The Attorney of the Public Ministry of Beja asked for the conviction of the three defendants, among them a technician from the Municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo, in the case of trips to Turkey in 2015, paid by a company in the IT sector.
Thirty seconds were enough for the Public Prosecutor of the Court of Beja to ask for the conviction of the three defendants involved in the case of trips to Turkey involving the company ANO-Sistemas de Informática, Lda., do Porto, Manuel Amorim, resident in Famalicão, managing partner of the company and Nuno Mourinho, computer engineer at Ferreira do Alentejo City Council, who were tried for the crimes of improper receipt of advantage.
The magistrate justified that "evidence was made of the entire accusation contained in the records and the defendants must be convicted", not revealing the penalties to apply.
At stake is a trip to Turkey, between 15 and 21 April 2015, which the company designated as “User Meeting-Istanbul 2015”, having sent invitations to mayors and other local government officials and municipal companies, in which it assumed the payment of the costs inherent to it in the global amount of 35.365 euros, proceeding with the sharing of this cost among the invited actors, the defendant company spent the amount of 885 euros.
Along 37 minutes of a very passionate speech, with shots in all directions, Silvio Cervan, ANO and Manuel Amorim's defense lawyer began by telling the Collective of Judges, chaired by magistrate Vítor Maneta, that "the court must be a real court and that it must not be encumbered with the explanations that the defendant gave to justify the context of the trips".
Throughout your argument in the closing arguments, Cervan argued that “the decisive line of the process” were the words of the former president and vice-president and the current mayor of Ferreira do Alentejo that “it was a political decision to hire the company, who never felt less ethical behavior than that and did not know the defendant Manuel Amorim”. The lawyer argued that "these are the political decision makers who did not involve the manager and the company in illegalities at all", justified.
Before defending the acquittal of Manuel Amorim and ANO, accused the PJ of "having reached the conclusion that there was no corruption, but as they needed to present work, removed certificates and created a monstrous process", concluded.
Nuno Mourinho's lawyer, the informant from the municipality of Ferreira do Alentejo who made the trip with all paid, maintained that this "never intended to deceive anyone, much less the autarchy", reminding the Collective that the defendant is primary and collaborated with the tribune for what "must be acquitted", finished.
Reading the judgment was set for the next day 9 June, to 14,00 hours, in the Main Room of the Court of Beja.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
