Latest news and stories about operation marquis in Portugal for expats and residents.
Former prime minister José Sócrates has lodged a complaint about the Portuguese justice system with the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN). The complaint comes days after he was left without a lawyer in the Operation Marquis case; he blamed the court for that and said he would pursue further legal remedies to defend his rights. At a press conference...
Sócrates wanted to add to his complaint a set of new information relating to developments in recent weeks in the trial of Operation Marquis.
The former prime minister and the other defendants were excused by the court from attending the trial and have been absent from recent hearings.
Questioned as a witness in the Operation Marquis trial, Vítor Escária confirmed that José Sócrates asked him to intercede with Venezuelan authorities to expedite payments to the Lena Group.
Lawyer José Preto withdrew from Sócrates's defence because the judge did not suspend the proceedings despite his illness. Luís Rosa, lead writer at Observador, says the court's decision was lawful.
José Preto will replace lawyer Pedro Delille at the end of November 2025; Delille had represented José Sócrates since his arrest in November 2014.
The decision to split the proceedings stems from the pre-trial instruction order in the main case issued in April 2021 by Judge Ivo Rosa, then at the Central Criminal Court of Instruction.
