The remaining final arguments of the defense lawyers of the defendants accused of committing crimes of criminal association took place on Wednesday morning., human trafficking and money laundering.
Given that the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) de Beja dropped these accusations, the reading of the judgment was marked, only, to 31 January 2025.
On Monday, in your allegations, Jacqueline Mendes, MP magistrate, only asked for the conviction of defendants who carried prohibited weapons, and argued that “in the context of a trial hearing, the alleged facts have not been proven, coercive measures depriving the accused of their freedom must be revoked.â€, which led to the immediate release of eight defendants who were in pre-trial detention and four at home, all of Romanian nationality.
On trial are 20 Defendants, 18 people and two companies, thanks to the reversal that occurred in the previous final arguments session, little is left for the Panel of Judges to condemn, hence why the deadline for reading the judgment has no interference with defendants in prison.
From this first phase of the process, only two defendants, the Buica brothers, are accused of a crime of possession of a prohibited weapon, which could result in a small prison sentence, suspended upon its implementation, or be reduced to a fine.
From the separation of the case, thirty-two defendants remain, awaiting the decision of the Judges of the Court of Appeal of Évora, in light of the appeals presented by the Cuban Public Ministry, that if they are judged they can benefit from the decision taken on Monday by the Collective of Judges of the Court of Beja.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
