I don’t really understand why the PJ would release files to the public when a case gets shelved without resolution. If they have been investigating someone but don’t amass enough evidence to secure a conviction, how is it in anyone’s interest (apart from the suspect) to let the possible guilty party know what evidence has already been amassed against them, evidence which may be vital in any future court case?
Apparently, the general idea is transparency (don't mention the
war dictatorship), to justify the decision.
I asked around various Portuguese people I was in contact with at the time, and no one had ever heard of DVDs being handed out before. My best guess is that it was simply a pragmatic decision in view of the anticipated media frenzy and likely disruption. I can understand that to a point, but, perhaps with more time, identifying elements could have been redacted (as happens frequently in the US) and indeed in PT legal judgments.
In view of the numerous "leaks" throughout the investigation, many of which were garbled half-truths at best, I'm curious as to whether whoever made that decision thought that it could help to set the record straight, and / or whether that person anticipated that the whole of it would get shared beyond whatever "interested parties" were deemed to be, then uploaded wholesale.
