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The defense of former banker Ricardo Salgado warned the court on Tuesday that it is obliged to allow a medical examination to be carried out on the former president of Banco Espírito Santo (BES), under the risk of annulment of the process.
In the introductory presentations of the first day of the BES/GES case trial, lawyer Adriano Squilacce criticized the group of judges for not having yet ruled on the requests to perform a neurological examination on the former banker, taking into account that he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“The clinical situation is an inescapable fact that we do not see how the court can hide under the table. The court is obliged to carry out a medical examination under penalty of annulment. Who didn’t see that the court was understandably hesitant about the situation we all witnessed this morning? How can the accused understand and discuss facts with the level of sophistication discussed here?” he asked.
The lawyer, who represents the former banker along with Francisco Proença de Carvalho, stated that the current clinical situation “prevents the exercise of the defense,” as well as the possibility of giving statements before the court, stressing that the defense “cannot do anything more.” “, although the trial has already begun this Tuesday at the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon.
Protests upon arrival, nine questions from the judge and 28 minutes in the courtroom. Ricardo Salgado on the first day of the trial for the BES case
Adriano Squilacce also recalled that the group “incorporates a judge harmed by the BES”, in reference to the presiding judge Helena Susano, who initially asked to be excused from the process because she had acted from the BES.
The former bank agent also criticized the Public Ministry (MP) for ignoring the clinical issue in the introductory presentations.
The lawyer warned that, due to this process, Portugal risks being condemned by the European Court of Human Rights: “Just look at the reports to see that this is no longer Ricardo Salgado.”
The introductory presentation by Ricardo Salgado’s defense came after a request filed on Monday asking for a mistrial to be declared.
“It is requested that the beginning of this trial be declared null and void.without considering the previous issues related to the lack of capacity of the accused to intervene, personally and without limitations, in the process and exercise his defense there and perform a medical examination of the accused,” reads the document, which admits, subsidiarily, the statement of irregularity at the start of the trial.
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Immediately before Adriano Squilacce’s intervention, the lawyer of a procedural assistant also requested that the process be suspended until a provisional guardian was appointed for the former president of the BES. “Ricardo Salgado is unable to understand the development of this trial and exercise his right to defenseTherefore, the trial must be suspended until a provisional guardian is appointed,” said lawyer Henrique Prior.
The former president of the BES, Ricardo Salgado, is the main defendant in the BES/GES case and is responsible before the courts for 62 crimes, allegedly committed between 2009 and 2014.
Among the crimes charged are one of criminal association, 12 of active corruption in the private sector, 29 of qualified fraud, five of infidelity, one of market manipulation, seven of money laundering and seven of document falsification.
In addition to Ricardo Salgado, 17 other defendants are also being tried, namely Amílcar Morais Pires, Manuel Espírito Santo Silva, Isabel Almeida, Machado da Cruz, António Soares, Paulo Ferreira, Pedro Almeida Costa, Cláudia Boal Faria, Nuno Escudeiro, João Martins Pereira, Etienne Cadosch, Michel Creton, Pedro Serra and Pedro Pinto, in addition to the companies Rio Forte Investments, Espírito Santo Irmãos, SGPS and Eurofin.
According to the Public Ministry, the collapse of the GES will have caused losses of more than 11.8 billion euros.
Source: Observadora
