The information was provided by the judge in the session of the investigation phase of the case on the theft and finding of weapons from the Tancos armouries and confirmed by one of the defence lawyers to the Lusa agency.

The same source said that the Prime Minister now has 10 days to answer the 100 questions put to him by the judge, which may later lead to requests for clarification from the lawyers and the public prosecutor.

The Tancos case has 23 defendants, including the former director of the Military Judicial Police (PJM) Luís Vieira, the former PJM spokesman Vasco Brazão and the former Marine João Paulino, who has been pointed out as the head of the gang of thieves who are responsible for a number of crimes that include terrorism, criminal association, denial of justice and prevarication, forgery of documents, influence peddling, abuse of power, receiving and holding a prohibited weapon.

The case of the theft of weapons in Tancos was disclosed by the Army on June 29, 2017 with the indication that it had occurred the day before. The alleged recovery of the stolen material occurred in the Chamusca region of Santarem in October 2017.