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After sending false information to the Council of the European Union about the role of the prosecutor José Guerra in the UGT case – he said that the magistrate had directed the investigation when he was responsible for the trial – the Ministry of Justice justified “the lack” with the fact that the prosecutor José Guerra assured “the direction of the investigation of the case of the Autonomous Board of Estradas” that “deceived the services in the preparation of the document” that was sent to the European Union. But according to the prosecutor’s résumé, this only “helped” the investigation and “integrated” the team of magistrates coordinated by another magistrate: Daniel Sanches.
“I do not believe that the Ministry of Justice has lacked the truth, but it is reproducing what happened badly,” admits José Guerra. “I was appointed with Dr. Manuela Rego to investigate not one, but several cases of JAE. The team was coordinated by Dr. Daniel Sanches and I carried out the investigation of the cases that were distributed to me ”. Even so, according to José Guerra, “given the complexity” of the different processes, the team was reinforced with “other magistrates”, until he was “promoted” and left “the team” and went to the criminal courts of Boa Hora where he would do the judgment of the UGT Process. “I do not falsify resumes,” says José Guerra, who took over as European prosecutor in September last year. “My resume is public and the information about JAE is correct.”
Contacted by Expresso, the Ministry of Justice now clarifies that “the JAE file had several processes” and that José Guerra “effectively ensured the direction of several of these processes.” “There were other magistrates, but José Guerra and Manuela Rego have been there from the beginning and are conducting the first investigations,” it is said.
José Guerra was the candidate chosen by the Portuguese Government for the new European Public Prosecutor’s Office, although a group of international experts placed him in second place. According to documents to which Expresso had access, the independent panel considered that “among the nominated candidates”, Judge Ana Carla Mendes de Almeida was “the best to occupy the functions of European prosecutor”, taking into account “the combination of experience in the investigation of financial crimes and experience in the field of international judicial cooperation “.
However, this was not the understanding of the Ministry of Justice, which preferred the candidate who came out first in the pre-selection made by the Superior Council of the Public Ministry. A divergence that forced the Portuguese Government to send explanations to the Council of the EU and the rest of the Member States, since the final decision to appoint the 22 European prosecutors would be made by this institution. And of all the participating countries, only Portugal, Belgium and Bulgaria did not follow the opinion of the panel.
In the letter of “disagreement” sent to the Council, the Portuguese Government promoted José Guerra to the category of deputy attorney general (he is a prosecutor); and identified him as responsible for the investigation and prosecution of the UGT case (he made the trial). The Ministry of Justice assumed the “lapses” and held the internal services responsible for drafting the letter.
