The prime minister defended on Tuesday that judicial inquiries should not be the target of political attacks, emphasizing that the prosecution has “unparalleled” autonomy and that an accused is an innocent citizen until convicted.
“Judicial investigations should not be subject to political attacks. It is the normal functioning of the rule of law”, António Costa told journalists in Carnaxide, municipality of Oeiras, after another session of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) in Motion, this one on the housing sector.
At the end of the session, the Prime Minister spent nearly half an hour answering questions from journalists about matters involving members of his government or affecting his government, as well as the recent searches of the Chamber of Lisbon – the municipality where he lives. was chairman between 2007 and 2015. , and was later succeeded until 2021 by the current Finance Minister, Fernando Medina.
Not to mention the judicial process and subsequent preventive detention of the former PS leader and Prime Minister José Sócrates, in November 2014, the the current leader of the executive said that since that year he has systematically reiterated the following view: “There must be a clear separation between political and judicial activities”.
“Portugal has an extraordinary privilege: it is one of the countries in the world where the independence of the courts and the autonomy of the prosecution service are better guaranteed. It is an enormous privilege because it guarantees all citizens that whoever they are “Ordinary citizens or prime minister, no one is above the law,” he began by replying, after being asked about investigations that could involve several members of his executive branch.
On a strictly political level António Costa argued that his government has provided research institutions with the necessary resources “so that these studies are successful”.and cited recent statements by the director of the judicial police, according to which he could not recall ever having such a strong reinforcement of resources.
“The function of politics should be to provide the judicial and judicial authorities with the necessary resources to continue the investigation and then to respect their operation. And to respect their operation means two things: not to interfere or the activity of judicial entities use for political struggle,” he stressed.
Subsequently, António Costa developed the principle of the presumption of innocence, emphasizing the rights and guarantees inherent in a citizen appointed as a defendant, as well as the degree of autonomy enjoyed by the prosecution service in Portugal.
“Justice must take place in peace, with appropriate modesty and in the right place: in the investigation phase in the Public Prosecutor’s Office; in the prosecution phase in the instruction courts; and in the trial phase in the courts”, orphan.
According to António Costa, one of the fundamental evolutions in the field of civilization was the consolidation of the rule of law, “there are no longer popular trials in the public square and the execution begins in accordance with the rules of procedure, with all defendants having the right to be presumed innocent until convicted”.
“The system was so perfected that the judicial authorities increasingly became a de facto independent power in our case, the public prosecutor’s office has an autonomy that is unparalleled, which represents a very important factor of trust”he stressed.
Still on the issue of justice and politics in Portugal, the leader of the executive branch left another note: “With our system, citizens know that if the Prime Minister commits an unlawful act, it is a crime, it is not because he is Prime Minister above the law and unexamined”.
“He will be investigated like any other citizen suspected of committing a wrongful act, but until there is a conviction, people are innocent. As long as there is no charge, people are just defendants.”marked.
On this point, António Costa then tried to emphasize that, when citizens are identified as defendants, “they have their own procedural status, which gives them more rights of defense in light of the ongoing investigation led by the prosecution.”
“That is why we must calmly let justice take its course, work and wait for the results,” he added.
Source: DN
