Francisco Teixeira da Mota told the president of the collective of judges, Margarida Alves, that the defendant wants to speak and is now “analysing the information on the digital evidence that he was authorised to consult”, explaining that “only recently” Rui Pinto “began to work” on the subject.

Upon leaving the courtroom, the lawyer said that Rui Pinto is “psychologically well” and “has started the work of analysing the digital evidence”, adding: “He will make his statements, there was evidence produced in a sense that is favourable to him. Now, he will present the facts that he knows.”

Trail resumes

The trial of the Football Leaks case resumed today, after a break of almost 10 months, with a short session, in which the last two defense witnesses, who could not be contacted and who will not be heard, were to be questioned and the confrontation of two inspectors from the Judiciary Police (PJ), postponed to the next session, scheduled for April 22.

The trial, which began on September 4, 2020, continues on April 22, with four sessions already scheduled for May: on the 13th, 16th, 23rd and 26th.

The testimony of witnesses Aida Freitas and Hugo Monteiro, both PJ inspectors, now scheduled for April 22, was requested at the 31st session, on January 19, 2021, due to contradictions between the testimonies of both, which led the collective of trial judges questioning the reliability of the evidence and the court extracting a certificate.

Rui Pinto, 33, is responsible for a total of 90 crimes: 68 of improper access, 14 of violation of correspondence, six of illegitimate access, targeting entities such as Sporting, Doyen, the PLMJ law firm, the Portuguese Federation of Football (FPF) and the Attorney General's Office (PGR), and also for computer sabotage of Sporting's SAD and for extortion, in the attempted form.