Lisbon, Oct. 9, 2024 (Lusa) - The Lisbon Central Criminal Court on Wednesday refused Ricardo Salgado's defence request for the former banker to be excused from appearing at the trial in the BES/GES case, which is scheduled to begin on 15 October at the Campus da Justice in Lisbon.
"The Court considers it essential to make contact with all the defendants, as well as with the defendant Ricardo Salgado, namely for the purposes of identifying him and ascertaining his wishes," says the order signed by Judge Helena Susano, following a request from the defence of the former chairman of Banco Espírito Santo (BES), who warned of the unfavourable evolution of the Alzheimer's disease he has been diagnosed with.
In the application submitted to the court, which was made known on Tuesday, the defence cited the most recent report from the doctor accompanying the former banker, dated September 27, stressing that Ricardo Salgado "does not have the cognitive capacity to participate competently in any court session and that the mere physical presence in a court environment can generate a worsening of the symptoms of the disease".
The document from the Lisbon Central Criminal Court, to which Lusa had access, also stressed that the clinical information on the former BES chairman sent by lawyers Francisco Proença de Carvalho and Adriano Squillace indicates that Salgado will only not have "the capacity to respond in an informed and competent manner to questions of some complexity or that require precision and rigour in the answers", and that his presence for identification is feasible.
"It is not possible, despite the portrait drawn by his defenders, for him to express his will (...) and, much less, to answer questions about his identification, and it is permissible for him to be accompanied by a family member at all times. In view of the above, the request made by the defendant Ricardo Espírito Santo Silva Salgado is rejected," the order states.
Contacted by Lusa to react to the court's decision, lawyer Francisco Proença de Carvalho declined to comment.
The former banker's defence had highlighted Ricardo Salgado's ‘loss of overall autonomy’ in the application submitted to the court and said that the main official suspect in the BES/GES case (also known as the Espírito Santo Universe) needs the ‘supervision of a carer’ for most of his day-to-day activities, most of which are carried out by his wife.
According to the request, Ricardo Salgado's previous participation in a court session in February this year "resulted in a clear worsening of his cognitive and behavioural symptoms", which is why the defence asked for him to be excused from attending the trial, arguing that this obligation goes "against the most basic human dignity and violates the most basic principles of respect for human life".
According to the defence, the current stage of Alzheimer's disease prevents the former banker from exercising his right to defend himself against the charges brought by the public prosecutor.
The trial in what is also known as the Espírito Santo Universe case will begin more than a decade after the collapse of the Espírito Santo Group (GES) in August 2014, with Ricardo Salgado as the main official suspect.
The former banker was accused of 65 offences, including criminal association, active corruption, document forgery, qualified fraud and money laundering, but three offences have since expired, so he will stand trial for 62 crimes.
Considered one of the biggest cases in the history of Portuguese justice, this case brings together in the main case 242 inquiries, which were joined, and complaints from more than 300 people, natural and legal, living in Portugal and abroad. According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the collapse of the GES empire caused losses of over €11.8 billion.
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