Big Crack at the Top of the Portuguese Police: PJ Director Accused of 'False Statement' and 'Illegal Eavesdropping'

Things got very confusing within the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), Portugal's most authoritative criminal investigation institution. A criminal complaint was filed directly with the prosecutor's office against the agency's national director, Carlos Cabreiro, on charges of giving false testimony in court and personally executing an illegal wiretapping order that was not approved by the prosecutor's office.

Moreover, this complaint is not from an outsider; It came from David Freitas, a veteran PJ coordinator with more than 30 years of experience at the agency.

The Beginning of the Knot: That Gas Station Meeting in 2015

The origin of the incident is based on the Football Leaks leaks that shook the whole world and the capture process of the famous hacker Rui Pinto. In 2015, a critical meeting took place at a gas station in Oeiras. At the table were Rui Pinto's lawyer at the time, Aníbal Pinto, Doyen Sports' boss Nélio Lucas and lawyer Pedro Henriques. At that time, Pinto had seized thousands of confidential documents from the sports company and allegedly wanted 300 thousand euros.

The police did not yet know who the person who made the leaks was at that time, and this meeting played a key role in deciphering the identity of the hacker.

Emerging Documents and Contradictory Statements

This is where the real scandal breaks out. David Freitas, who recently transferred to the surveillance and technical support unit, found very critical official documents from that day in the archives. In these documents, it is clearly written that lawyer Aníbal Pinto was wiretapped upon the instructions of Carlos Cabreiro, who was the head of the cybercrime unit at that time, although the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had previously explicitly denied it. It is even stated in the report that listening devices were placed on the people participating in the meeting and that the system worked successfully.

However, during the court process, PJ officials flatly denied that there was any ambient wiretapping; He argued that the information was obtained only by overhearing two inspectors standing far away at the gas station.

In fact, female inspector Aida Freitas, who was heard at the hearing, was targeted when she said that she did not hear anything because she was away and that she signed the report without reading it, and she was accused of "professional incompetence" by Cabreiro and was tried for perjury. The documents that have now emerged completely upset the balance in court as to who is hiding the real truth.

Prosecutor's Office and Ministry are in Action

Following these deep contradictions, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office accepted the complaint and forwarded it to the Lisbon Criminal Procedures Department (DIAP). Lawyer Aníbal Pinto, who was convicted of blackmail in the case, also stepped in and appealed to both the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Justice and stated that if the allegations were confirmed, Cabreiro would not be able to sit in that seat even for a day.

While the PJ side argues that the director did not receive an official notification, this showdown at the top of the organization has ignited a new and very serious debate on the reliability of the judiciary in the country.

Source: Natasha Donn / Expresso

Photo: Manuel de Almeida / Lusa