Portuguese court rejects trial of Paulo de Morais for defamation of Bornito de Sousa

The process targeting Paulo de Morais is based on public considerations that the leader of the Civic Front produced about the purchase of a wedding dress and other items for the wedding of the current vice president's daughter, in 2014, which will have cost more than 200 thousand dollars, in a country "where people are dying in the street from hunger and disease".

"By making public knowledge [of what he learned regarding the marriage of the VP's daughter], the defendant acted within the scope of his concerns, commitment and activity in the fight against corruption", says investigating judge Cristina Malheiro, in her order of non-pronunciation.

Paulo de Morais had been the target of a particular accusation of those targeted, supported by the Public Ministry (MP), but he did not comply, requesting the process to avoid going to trial.

In the instructional debate, lawyer Paulo de Moura Marques, who represents the Angolan vice president and his daughter, Naulila, accused Paulo de Morais of having embarked on a "gratuitous offense", going beyond the limits of freedom of expression.

Paulo de Morais' lawyer, Carlos Cal Brandão, asked the judge to dismiss the defendant, that is, to choose not to bring him to trial, saying that part of the evidence was taken to the process without respecting legal norms and argued that the his client acted in the framework of defending the public interest, targeting only public figures and resorting to his right to freedom of expression.

"And everything the defendant said, albeit with variations, is clearly demonstrated in the records", he added, citing television reports that have not been denied and which, therefore, Paulo de Morais "took as the truth".

The thesis was partially accepted by the investigating judge. "Given the content of all these publications, the fact that they are public and there is no known reaction from the assistants to them", the defendant expressed his opinions "convinced, as he still is, that everything he published and said corresponds to the rigorous expression of the truth", affirms the judicial magistrate in her order.

The judge says it is "public that the government of the Republic of Angola has serious problems in itself in various fields, political, social, economic - issues, which have always been known and discussed, have become much more evident and public with the disclosure of the dossier known as Luanda Leaks".

They are also public and known, he adds, "the bad and poor conditions in which the most disadvantaged classes of the Angolan population live. It is in this context that the defendant (...) spoke", without showing "any xenophobic and prejudiced comment ".

Thus, "under the terms of articles 307 and 308 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, it is decided not to pronounce the accused (...) for the commission of two crimes of publicity and aggravated defamation provided for and punished by articles 180 .º, no. 1, 182.º, 183.º, no. 2 of the Penal Code", concludes the order of non-pronouncement, which charges the Angolan vice-president and her daughter, as assistants in the process, with the payment of the costs, in the amount of 204 euros.

The magistrate refused, however, the "nullity of insufficient investigation", intended by the defense of Paulo de Morais, since "there is no omission of mandatory act to be carried out in the investigation phase"; that is, everything that the law required in this procedural stage was done.

Paulo de Morais even classified Naulila as "the new princess of Angola", in comparison with the businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Eduardo dos Santos, known as the "Princess of Angola" and targeted in the "Luanda Leaks" process.

Paulo de Morais' observations that gave rise to the "Bride's Dresses" case centered on January 2020, on a social network and a television channel, and were later reaffirmed, despite the plaintiffs' requests for him to recant.

On the contrary, the leader of the Portuguese Civic Front reaffirmed the considerations made on his official page on the Facebook network: "The facts that I reveal in these communications I have made on the subject are objective, verifiable. but in the use of a constitutional right, which is my right to freedom of expression. I do not change, withdraw or add anything to what I said."

In addition to being the leader of the Frente Civica, Paulo de Morais is a university professor, co-founder of Transparência e Integridade, a former candidate for the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic and was vice-president of the Porto Chamber from 2002 to 2005.