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Former television presenter Carlos Cruz submitted a request to review his sentence in the Casa Pia case, in which he was sentenced to six years in prison for sexual abuse of a minor, his lawyer confirmed to Lusa.
The request, which will be considered by the Supreme Court of Justice (STJ), follows a decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that, in June 2018, supported Carlos Cruz, who challenged the Court’s refusal. Lisbon list to admit new defense evidence at the appeal stage, considering that the defendant had no right to a “fair trial”.
After Expresso online advanced this Wednesday at the end of the day with the news, the lawyer Ricardo Sá Fernandes told Lusa that the request for review of the decision arises after the European court considered that “the principle of fair process”, by not weighing the evidence – documents and interviews – presented by the defense of Carlos Cruz.
The statements of the former Casa Pia driver Carlos Silvino and alleged youth recruiter, who retracted the accusations made against Carlos Cruz and other defendants after being convicted, are questioned.
For the lawyer, the request for review of the sentence “is a shot that occurs only once”, thus justifying the time elapsed between the decision of the European court (2018) and this request for a new trial.
Carlos Cruz served two-thirds of the six-year sentence and was released in July 2016.
Regarding this request, the lawyer stated that it is “a very complex piece”, which forced him to “confirm thousands of documents and listen to dozens of hours of recordings.”
“It’s a shot that only happens once and I had to be absolutely sure what I was going to present,” he said.
The request for a new trial was handed over to the court of first instance and, according to the lawyer, should reach the STJ until February, and the decision should take between two and three months.
Regarding the mood of Carlos Cruz, who always said he was innocent, his lawyer said: “Carlos Cruz lives for this, to see his name rehabilitated. He has had several illnesses and what keeps him alive is the hope of seeing his name cleared “.
“Carlos Cruz had nothing to do with the abuse or the Casa Pia process. He is a completely innocent man whose life was destroyed,” he said.
The former presenter was convicted in 2010 of sexual abuse of minors, in the context of the Casa Pia case. He served two-thirds of the six-year sentence and was released in July 2016.
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