The former prime minister sent a letter to the presiding judge of the panel hearing the Operation Marquês case to formally state that the decision for the lawyers to resign was entirely their own responsibility. “I learned of these decisions after they had been made, not before,” writes José Sócrates.
Sócrates guarantees he has no responsibility for his lawyers' resignation and refutes accusation of delaying tactics
Friday, 13 March 2026RSS
Context & Explainers
Operation Marquês (Operação Marquês) is a major criminal investigation opened in 2013 into alleged corruption, money laundering and tax crimes involving high-profile figures, including former prime minister José Sócrates, and it led to arrests in 2014. The case has been one of Portugal's largest anti-corruption probes and has influenced public debate about accountability and the justice system.
