Benfica’s lawyers said on Thursday that the process in which the SAD and members of its board of directors for the period 2016-2020 were formed as defendants is in “judicial secrecy” and that the disclosure “could constitute a criminal offence”.
“It must be unequivocal that – in addition to the deontological obligations to which we are bound – we have information that the process is subject to the so-called external legal secrecy, so in any case we cannot and do not want to disclose procedural acts for the same reason “explains the statement sent to the Lusa office this Thursday, signed by lawyers João Medeiros, Paulo Saragoça da Mata and Rui Patrício.
The lawyers point out that they have been questioned by the media about the content of the trial, as it was “known to third parties”, which the lawyers consider “strangers to the trial and based on a source they do not know” about the granting the “required consultation”.
At the end of January, during the latest allegations of the “email process”, Nuno Brandão, lawyer for Francisco J. Marques, stated that lawyers associated with FC Porto had already consulted the process, which surprised the representatives of the “incarnates”.
Some data allegedly referring to the accusation has also already been revealed in the media.
In the statement to Lusa, Benfica’s lawyers reaffirm this Thursday that they must not disclose procedural acts, adding that such disclosure “may constitute a criminal offense whether or not the perpetrator has had contact with the process”.
The club confirmed that Benfica SAD and members of the board of directors for the 2016-2020 term who are currently still in office have been identified as defendants on January 3.
The confirmation came after Diário de Notícias put forward that “supposedly at stake will be a process investigating crimes arising from illegal emails sent to Benfica and compiling other processes such as the ‘vouchers’ and the ‘ suitcase ciao’.'”.
According to the DN, the defendants are Rui Costa, the current president of the club, Domingos Soares Oliveira, Luís Filipe Vieira, José Eduardo Moniz and Nuno Gaioso Ribeiro, all directors or former directors of the Benfica association.
Source: DN
