Did Gonçalo Amaral breach Portuguese secrecy laws?

[Brietta]

There have been a few prosecutions in Portugal

- PJ inspector José Torrão (Setúbal) got an 8-month suspended sentence for leaking about the never-ending Freeport saga (but he was seemingly caught red-handed). I have no idea if the sentence was upheld on appeal or not.

Inspector da PJ condenado a 8 meses de pena suspensa
Data: 2007.07.18
Fonte: JN
Autor: Redacção

Jornalistas Inês Serra Lopes e Francisco Teixeira foram absolvidos. O ex-inspector da PJ José Torrão foi ontem condenado a oito meses de pena suspensa por violação de segredo de justiça, no âmbito do caso Freeport . A pena foi suspensa por 18 meses, mediante o compromisso de entregar cinco mil euros �  Quercus. Os dois jornalistas envolvidos no processo, Inês Serra Lopes e Francisco Teixeira, foram absolvidos do mesmo crime, de acordo com a Lusa. A defesa do ex-inspector da PJ de Setúbal anunciou que vai decorrer da sentença para o Tribunal da Relação de Lisboa.

http://www.tretas.org/Freeport/Artigos

- There was another prosecution involving quite a few PJ officers in the Casa Pia affair, IIRC. I'll add a link when I find one.

- There also seem to be noises about cracking down on it more generally, but it might just be... noise.
http://pesquisa.rtp.pt/default.aspx?relid=19230&ind=rtpnoticias

- A general article by Henrique Monteiro (11 Jan 2014) on the subject, discussing various options ETA I modified my original wording to read: from the perspective of journalists. Unfortunately, I can only get the gist of it as his prose is somewhat above that of CdaM.

A general summary of what I think I understand (with apologies if I've got some of it wrong and the points don't necessarily follow the ones made in the article):

The gripe seems to be that judicial secrecy is in theory so all-encompassing that journalists have a hard time doing their job. Some end up as arguidos and are not even sure what they've done wrong. Others often completely ignore it, which ironically sometimes leads to cases of injustice. (He mentions the "British example" early on - by which I presume he means the Leveson inquiry.)

One proposal on the table appears to be recorded conversations between journalists and their sources... (I can't see that ever happening.)

His view seems to be that judicial secrecy should be the exception rather than the norm, and journalists should be given more access to information, with clearer guidelines as to the boundaries, as well as being given justified reasons why some cases may need to be off limits (I'm not sure if he means during the investigation phase or whether he means the entire judicial process). If journalists are told to shut up, then all journalists must respect it and clear sanctions should be imposed if it is broken.

http://expresso.sapo.pt/contra-o-segredo-de-justica-e-um-aplauso-a-pgr=f850074

Thanks for that research, Carana.  I was beginning to wonder if it was one of those laws on the Statute Books which was more honoured in the breach than in the observance.

[faithlilly]

So why didn't his last but one Lawyer get paid?

He wasn't ? Do tell ?

[Anna]

He wasn't ? Do tell ?

June 17, 2014

“I was caught by surprise. Gonçalo Amaral called me at 22h00 on Sunday warning me that he was going to dismiss my services in the McCann process. He didn’t say why”, lawyer Santos de Oliveira, who had prepared closing arguments to be presented on Monday, told DN yesterday. Due to Amaral’s decision, yesterday’s session was only used to schedule closing arguments for July.

“What happened was more than bizarre. My fees have not been paid in full yet. I have only received part of it”, Santos de Oliveira mentioned, refusing to comment if Gonçalo Amaral’s eventual financial difficulties lie behind the former Judiciary Police inspector’s decision to dismiss his defence.

In the defamation trial, the McCanns claim the payment of 1.2 million euro from Gonçalo Amaral, the author of Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira.


http://themaddiecasefiles.com/topic22982.html#p298483

[Eleanor]

Thanks, Anna.

[Alice Purjorick]

June 17, 2014

“I was caught by surprise. Gonçalo Amaral called me at 22h00 on Sunday warning me that he was going to dismiss my services in the McCann process. He didn’t say why”, lawyer Santos de Oliveira, who had prepared closing arguments to be presented on Monday, told DN yesterday. Due to Amaral’s decision, yesterday’s session was only used to schedule closing arguments for July.

“What happened was more than bizarre. My fees have not been paid in full yet. I have only received part of it”, Santos de Oliveira mentioned, refusing to comment if Gonçalo Amaral’s eventual financial difficulties lie behind the former Judiciary Police inspector’s decision to dismiss his defence.

In the defamation trial, the McCanns claim the payment of 1.2 million euro from Gonçalo Amaral, the author of Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira.


http://themaddiecasefiles.com/topic22982.html#p298483

So Sr Santos de Oliveira said in June 2014 he had received part of his fee. Do we have evidence that Dr Amaral has not paid the balance in the intervening seven months?

[Anna]

So Sr Santos de Oliveira said in June 2014 he had received part of his fee. Do we have evidence that Dr Amaral has not paid the balance in the intervening seven months?

No I do not, I don't know about you, Alice.
 Did Amaral not have a fund, back then to pay his legal fees in full?

[faithlilly]

June 17, 2014

“I was caught by surprise. Gonçalo Amaral called me at 22h00 on Sunday warning me that he was going to dismiss my services in the McCann process. He didn’t say why”, lawyer Santos de Oliveira, who had prepared closing arguments to be presented on Monday, told DN yesterday. Due to Amaral’s decision, yesterday’s session was only used to schedule closing arguments for July.

“What happened was more than bizarre. My fees have not been paid in full yet. I have only received part of it”, Santos de Oliveira mentioned, refusing to comment if Gonçalo Amaral’s eventual financial difficulties lie behind the former Judiciary Police inspector’s decision to dismiss his defence.

In the defamation trial, the McCanns claim the payment of 1.2 million euro from Gonçalo Amaral, the author of Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira.


http://themaddiecasefiles.com/topic22982.html#p298483

Thank you Anna. I notice the lawyer says 'yet' so am I right in assuming that we don't know whether it was eventually paid ?

[faithlilly]

So Sr Santos de Oliveira said in June 2014 he had received part of his fee. Do we have evidence that Dr Amaral has not paid the balance in the intervening seven months?

Great minds and all that !!!

[Eleanor]

So Sr Santos de Oliveira said in June 2014 he had received part of his fee. Do we have evidence that Dr Amaral has not paid the balance in the intervening seven months?

It would have been polite to pay his lawyer before he fired him.  But perhaps he didn't have the money.

[Anna]

Thank you Anna. I notice the lawyer says 'yet' so am I right in assuming that we don't know whether it was eventually paid ?

That is true, Faith. We don't know, but I will see what I can find out.

[faithlilly]

It would have been polite to pay his lawyer before he fired him.  But perhaps he didn't have the money.

Or was unable to reach the people who administer the fund before he made his decision ?

[Eleanor]

Or was unable to reach the people who administer the fund before he made his decision ?

A law unto himself then.  Why discuss it with anyone, least of all those doing the work or paying the bills.  How very ill mannered.

[Alice Purjorick]

Had Sr Santos de Oliveira submitted an invoice for all his fees ?
Did Dr Amaral have a legitimate reason for withholding funds?
Does anyone know with any degree of certainty?

All we can say with certainty is: as of June 2014 Dr Amaral had paid part of of his legal fees.
The rest is all speculation.

[Anna]

Thank you Anna. I notice the lawyer says 'yet' so am I right in assuming that we don't know whether it was eventually paid ?

Are they not normally paid in advance? The next session was in July.

[DCI]

A law unto himself then.  Why discuss it with anyone, least of all those doing the work or paying the bills.  How very ill mannered.

I wonder what happened to the almost €8,000 in his fund?

Seems Santos de Oliveira, got the same treatment as Cabrita did.