Next Monday, Rui Pinto will hear about the verdict in the Football Leaks case, some three years after the start of the trial and after the reading of the verdict was postponed in July due to the amnesty law.
The hearing is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, during which the collective chaired by Judge Margarida Alves will communicate the decision on the 90 crimes attributed to the creator of the electronic platform that caused national and international upheaval in 2015. football. , by revealing numerous confidential documents regarding player contracts and transfers between clubs, businessmen and investment funds.
It was still in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, on September 4, 2020, that the trial began at the Justice Campus, characterized by the validity of health rules, strict safety measures and the attention paid by media from several countries. to a case that arose following complaints filed by Sporting and the Doyenfonds in 2015.
Many dozens of sessions later and with countless media figures testifying in court, all that remains is to know what the court’s decision will be and the possible impact of the law on amnesty and pardons of sentences approved as part of the visit of Pope Francis to Portugal. Rui Pinto is now 34 years old and not yet 30 years old at the time of the offenses charged against him. That is why the chairman was of the opinion that he was covered by the diploma.
Stressing that “some crimes for which Rui Pinto is responsible in court will be excluded from such amnesty, in particular attempts at extortion and crimes falling under cybercrime, The judge noted in a July order the possible application of amnesty to the 68 crimes of unauthorized entry and the 14 crimes of breach of correspondence, which together represent 82 of the 90 crimes charged to the main defendant in the case.
Rui Pinto was considered by some as a hacker and by others as a whistleblower acting in the name of the public interest. However, at the end of the closing arguments, in January this year, he admitted his regret: “I’m not going to say that my life has been destroyed, because I am still alive and as long as there is life, there is hope… But I have committed wrong behavior that is clearly against the law. Today I have a conscience that I have Haven’t had it in years.”
New accusation from the Public Prosecution Service
The ruling puts an end to this process, but Rui Pinto already knows that he will continue in court, following a new accusation from the Public Prosecution Service (MP) that became known in July. The creator of Football Leaks has now been charged with 377 crimes related to accessing emails from Benfica and other clubs, the League, companies, lawyers, judges, prosecutors, tax authorities and the National Internal Security Network.
Rui Pinto, 34 years old, was accused of 90 crimes: 68 of improper access, 14 of violation of correspondence, six of unlawful access, involving entities such as Sporting, Doyen, the law firm PLMJ, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) and the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic were targeted (PGR), and also for computer sabotage of Sporting’s SAD and for extortion, as attempted. This last crime concerns Doyen and also led to the prosecution of lawyer Aníbal Pinto.
The creator of Football Leaks has been free since August 7, 2020, “due to his cooperation” with the Judicial Police (PJ) and his “critical feeling”, but has been included in witness protection at a secret location and under police protection for security reasons.
Source: DN
