Ricardo Salgado’s defense considered this Wednesday that the former president of the BES “is not in a position to contradict” the statements made in 2015 and that no curator will resolve the issue.
Lawyer Adriano Squilacce spoke to journalists in front of the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon, after, on this second day of the trial, the court rejected the request of Ricardo Salgado’s defense to prevent the reproduction of the former banker’s statements during a interrogation carried out by the Public. Ministry in 2015.
““The accused is not in a position to contradict and contradict and even comment on the statements he made in 2015, so it is not a defence.”the lawyer said, adding that the decision made by the trial court can now be appealed.
According to Ricardo Salgado’s defender, the question is not whether or not such statements made in 2015 were self-incriminating, but rather about guaranteeing the “defense guarantees” of the accused.
The lawyer of the former president of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) presented a request at the beginning of the afternoon session of this second day of trial, before the reproduction of the statements, with a view to not reproducing the interrogation of Ricardo Salgado before. the judge’s instruction in July 2015.
The Public Ministry (MP) understood that “there is no nullity” in the reproduction of the statements of Ricardo Salgado in a trial hearing, despite the arguments of the former banker’s defense.
For the MP, the request made before the reproduction itself constitutes “an anticipation of a nullity or irregularity.” For this reason, he defended the rejection of the request, despite asking for time to respond formally.
There were also several representatives of the attendees who wanted to comment on the request, in particular the defense of the injured parties of BES, who declared that they saw no impediments to the reproduction of the statements of the former president of BES.
“The reproduction of the statements made by the accused Dr. Ricardo Salgado during the investigation consists of a means of evidence endowed with ultra-active probative force, that is, their collection is already carried out in order to be used and valued in the process. ongoing,” summarized lawyer Ana Peixoto.
Lawyer Inês Almeida Costa, who represents the insolvent masses of the companies Rio Forte and ESI, highlighted that “It does not take into account the psychological state of the accused on the date of the statements made. “To date, “the defendant was in possession of the capabilities and was aware of the possibility of their subsequent reproduction.”he stressed.
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In turn, the representative of the BES in Liquidation, Madalena Parca, recalled that Ricardo Salgado “was fully aware” that the statements provided could be used later.
“With due respect to the condition of the accused, This claim does not find any type of legal basis. As to the question now raised, it is not relevant to the good decision of the case. The principle of immediacy and contradiction requires that it be done in a hearing, however, due to the circumstances, a deviation is possible,” he said.
Shortly after, Ricardo Salgado’s statements before investigating judge Carlos Alexandre in July 2015 began to be reproduced.
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.
According to the Public Ministry, the collapse of the GES will have caused losses of more than 11.8 billion euros.
Source: Observadora
