This Thursday, October 9, the Minister of Justice rejected referring in particular to the Spinumviva case, which involves Luís Montenegro, but defended that the investigations should not last forever nor be a persecution or obsession.
Rita Alarcão Júdice recalled that “investigation processes have short deadlines”, so “it doesn’t make sense” to “eternalize investigations in which all people remain under suspicion for endless times”.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 1st Annual Conference of the Administrative Lawyers Circle (CAA), at the Casa da América Latina, in Lisbon, the minister stated that “investigations must not be a persecution nor an obsession”.
“I’m not talking about this case, I’m talking about the great responsibility of those who investigate, because the investigation can affect any citizen”, he stressed.
Asked about the fact that the Prime Minister has not yet sent the documents to the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action of the Public Ministry, the minister says she does not have access to confidential information.
“Journalists may have it, but I do not have access to confidential information about the process. What I know and what I have already mentioned in relation to many other situations, which have nothing to do with this one, is that consideration and proportionality of means is necessary. We are talking about a preventive investigation”, he highlighted.
Several media outlets reported this Tuesday that the prosecutors responsible for the preventive investigation into the Spinumviva Case consider that a criminal investigation should be opened in Montenegro, which will be decided by the Attorney General of the Republic. However, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) quickly clarified that the preventive investigation is still ongoing and that the Public Ministry is still awaiting documentation.