Detained since Tuesday on suspicion of corruption, as part of Operation Vortex, Espinho’s mayor, socialist Miguel Reis, resigned from his mandate this Thursday, he revealed in a personal statement.
Miguel Reis took office as mayor of Espinho in October 2021. The mayor is one of five defendants arrested on Tuesday as part of Operation Vortex on suspicion of corruption.
The mayor and the other defendants will be heard this afternoon at the Criminal Investigation Court (TIC) of Porto, in the first interrogation, after which the coercive measures will be announced.
In addition to Miguel Reis, the head of the city planning department, José Costa, and three businessmen were arrested on suspicion of active and passive corruption, subterfuge, abuse of power and influence.
Architect, professor and researcher, this mayor of the district of Aveiro was elected to the position in the municipal councils of 2021, then with 40.23% of the vote, and now also resigns as chairman of the political committee of the PS de Espinho, for which was re-elected in October 2022.
In a note to Lusa, Miguel Reis states: “Following the steps taken in the context of the Vortex operation, I have taken the decision of my own free will to resign with immediate effect from the mandate for which I was elected in the Espinho City Council and, consequently, in the institutions where , inherent to functions, represented the autarchy. A resignation that extends to the functions he exercised at the various organizational levels of the Socialist Party”.
The so-called former mayor says he is making the decision “with an absolutely clear conscience”, adding: “I unequivocally reiterate my innocence in light of the allegations imputed to me and I strongly reject the false information and allegations and without the slightest resemblance to the reality put forward in recent days, with particular distaste for the headline published today by a media body”.
Miguel Reis hopes to “protect” his family from the harmful effects of media attention related to the case, to focus on his “full defense” and also to “ensure the normal functioning of the institution ‘Câmara Municipal de Espinho’ safeguard”.
Still detained in the premises of the judicial police in Porto when he sent the statement to Lusa, the architect added: “I have always seen the exercise of municipal functions and participation in political life as a disinterested act of active citizenship. In fact, I have repeatedly defended not ‘being mayor’ and only ‘being mayor’, approaching this position with a spirit of mission and merely as a point of passage”.
It is in reference to this “sense of detachment and independence” that Miguel Reis now wants to protect Espinho’s interests, recalling: “I have always maintained an active voice in defense of Espinho and Espinho’s people, warning, before and after the exercise of municipal functions and at various times and fora, for some of the facts and practices that now form the basis and essence of this inquiry — and which do not affect acts committed by me or during the term of my term of office “.
An official source of the Chamber of Espinho says that the succession process will now begin, which should entrust the leadership of the municipality to Álvaro Monteiro, current Vice President of the same and former President of the Board of Directors of the Centro Hospitalar de Gaia e Espinho.
Source: DN
