Rui Pinto classifies Benfica as “an octopus of influence”

“METhis club is like an octopus of influence. There is a very important detail that I want the public to think about. At the same time that the Portuguese authorities sent a request to the Hungarian authorities to extend my European arrest warrant, the Hungarian Foreign Minister received two fines Vip for Benfica matches and had matches at the Benfica stadium. This is Benfica ”, said Rui Pinto, in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel, published today by Expresso.

Rui Pinto says that “after the Benfica emails were published, everyone started to realize that modus operandi of their leaders was to extend their influence, often out of courtesy, to achieve their objectivesAnd he understands that the club “was one of the most interested in the extension of the European arrest warrant.”

The creator of Soccer Leaks, the platform through which he released thousands of confidential documents from the world of football and alleged tax evasion schemes committed in several countries, ensures that he does not consider himself a ‘hacker’ and defends the role of ‘whistleblower‘(complainant).

“Someone who seeks, receives and analyzes information on relevant crimes such as corruption and tax fraud and decides sharewith the international media or directly with the authorities should be considered a whistleblower. Take the Panama Papers as an example. Today, most people have already forgotten that it was an act of ‘piracy’ (piracy), “he says.

Rui Pinto, who is at liberty and, for security reasons, inserted in the training program protection witnesses in an undisclosed location and low protection Police officer admits to feeling “a little sad that Football Leaks did not achieve everything that he hoped for at the beginning.”

“For whistleblowers, the world of football is not the easiest place to enter. I think Football Leaks was one of the most dangerous leaks of information. Whistleblowers in football are in much greater danger than those in other businesses, such as those in Panama Papers or LuxLeaks“, said.

Also responsible for the Luanda Leaks process, Rui Pinto believes that the complaints involving Isabel dos Santos have changed her image in the public eye.

“There was a change in the press about me: some journalists who always called me a pirate or hacker or computer spy now call me whistleblower. Before, everyone treated Football Leaks as a silly war between football clubs. But, when Luanda Leaks appeared, everyone realized that there was much more to it than that. Even the prosecutors realized that this was bigger than they expected. This draft It ended up helping me finally get out of jail, “he says.

Rui Pinto, a autodidact Regarding computer knowledge, he begins to be tried on Friday for 90 crimes: 68 of improper access, 14 crimes of violation of correspondence, six crimes of illegitimate access, computer sabotage to the Sporting SAD and extortion, in the tentative way, the latter , a crime for which the lawyer Aníbal Pinto also spoke.