Operation Lex. Supreme Court begins trial in October
The Operation Lex trial will begin in October. The Supreme Court of Justice indicated in a statement that the possible dates for the hearing are October 15th, 22nd, or 29th. The date will be set after the judicial vacation, which ends on August 31st.
The first session and the final sessions for arguments will be held in the Supreme Court's courtroom . The remaining sessions will take place at the Lisbon Military Court, in Campo de Santa Clara, "on Tuesdays and Wednesdays of each week."
The case involves the former president of the Lisbon Court of Appeal, retired judge Luís Vaz das Neves, two former appellate judges, Rui Rangel and Fátima Galante, to whom the Superior Council of the Judiciary imposed the penalties of expulsion and compulsory retirement, and Luís Filipe Vieira, former president of Benfica, making a total of 16 defendants. There were originally 17, but Ruy Moura, a businessman, died in November 2020.
Among the crimes charged by the Public Prosecutor's Office within the scope of Operation Lex are corruption, abuse of power, undue receipt of benefits, tax fraud, money laundering, document forgery, and usurpation of office. Former Justice Rui Rangel, the main defendant in the case, was charged with 21 crimes alone.
As reported by Observador in March , following the retirement of judges António Latas and João Rato, the case was distributed by lottery to Jorge dos Reis Bravo, reporting counselor, who will be joined by assistant counselor judges José Piedade and Jorge Gonçalves, who were already part of the previous panel.
Operation Lex distributed to a new group of advisory judges at the Supreme Court of Justice
It was at the end of last year that it was confirmed, after two of the three counselors to whom the case had been handed over requested retirement, the need to distribute Operation Lex to a new panel of judges.
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