CPI on Luís Neves: Chega demands hearing of 50 people in Parliament
Chega has submitted its first set of measures to the CPI on Luís Neves to Parliament, demanding the hearing of at least 50 people. The list includes António Costa, magistrates and PJ officials.
Chega submits list of 50 witnesses for commission of inquiry into PJ
Chega's Parliamentary Group delivered on Friday, 23 October, to Parliament its first set of measures for the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) into the conduct of Luís Neves during the years he led the Judicial Police (PJ), between 2018 and 2026, before taking over the Interior Administration portfolio. According to dn.pt, which had access to the request, the party demands the hearing of at least 50 citizens.
The request was signed by six Chega deputies — Cristina Rodrigues, Sandra Ribeiro, Rui Paulo Sousa, Ricardo Reis, Pedro Pinto and Bruno Nunes. Of the 50 people to be heard, 40 are formally identified and 10 are awaiting identification to be obtained by letter.
Objective: mapping "collusion of powers"
The parliamentary group classifies this initiative as one of the most relevant in parliament in the current legislature. In the text of the request, the proposers argue that the hearings were selected to confront "the political office holders who interacted with Luís Neves, the hierarchical office holders who acted under his command or impulse and also the web of works/contracts" involving high-value public funds.
The stated objective is to construct a "map of persons and entities whose interaction and common involvement may have determined or caused serious harm to public funds, illegal or irregular decisions or even personal benefits", according to the document to which DN had access.
Politicians and government officials at the top of the list
On the political front, Chega demands the hearing of former prime minister António Costa, his then chief of staff Vítor Escária and the former secretary-general of the Interior Administration Ministry Ricardo Carrilho. The party also wants to hear the three personalities who oversaw Justice over the last eight years: Francisca Van Dunem, Catarina Sarmento e Castro and current Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Júdice.
PJ leadership and magistrates targeted
The leadership of the PJ appears widely represented. In addition to Luís Neves himself, Chega summons his predecessor, Almeida Rodrigues, and his successor, Carlos Cabreiro. The list extends to deputy national directors — João Melo and Veríssimo Milhazes —, to deputy prosecutor-general Pedro do Carmo, who served as deputy national director until 2018, and also to Saudade Nunes, Alfredo Esberard and Álvaro Davide Esteves Pires, responsible for the institution's financial and patrimonial management.
The forensic area is represented by Carlos Farinha and Alexandra Milhazes, former and current heads of the Scientific Police Laboratory. The operational structure includes names such as Artur Vaz, from the narcotics unit, and José Joaquim da Cunha Monteiro, from the Criminal Investigation Department in Braga.
The request also includes appellate judges Carlos Alexandre and Orlando Romano, lawyers Vítor Parente Ribeiro, Ricardo Serrano Vieira and João Martins Leitão, and technical experts such as architect Nelson Canto. Investigative journalists Sandra Felgueiras and Felícia Cabrita are also included on the list.
Ministerial office, unions and operational staff
Chega also calls to parliament members of Luís Neves's current office: chief of staff Joana Espírito Santo de Araújo and deputy Valentina Marcelino. The president of the Transparency Entity, Ana Raquel Gonçalves Moniz, and the mayor of Odemira, Hélder Guerreiro, complete the array of formally identified personalities.
To these forty figures are added two unions — ASFIC/PJ and ASPF-PJ — and a series of requests directed at the PJ and PSP for identification of operational participants. Among them are the driver and those responsible for transport and custody of goods seized in "Operation Pacoba", the experts with access to credentials for the bitcoin wallet given as missing, the couple from whom those coins were seized, the PSP coordinator involved in the seizure of a pen drive and officials linked to the hiring and supervision of public works.
Documents required: contracts, weapons and cryptocurrencies
In parallel with the hearings, the party demands an extensive set of documentation. One of the central axes focuses on awards to the company ConstruBarcelos: Chega requests the complete files of 17 contracts, scrutiny of works on the Évora and Guarda headquarters, and the legal justification for "recourse to direct award and excluded contracting", including the reasoning behind the "classification of Évora works as secret and their non-publication on the Base Portal".
The deputies also intend to cross-reference those contracts with analysis of any private works and projects with community funding from the RRP.
The request also demands clarification on the disappearance of approximately 200 weapons in custody of the Judicial Police and of a cryptocurrency wallet, as well as a full accounting for the seized vehicle fleet. On this point, Chega requests the complete list of vehicles assigned to the PJ, including loan contracts, authorising orders and fuel and mileage records relating to assets allegedly placed "at the service/use of Luís Neves".
Finally, the deputies request all internal correspondence between the PJ, PSP and government authority relating to the Judicial Police's participation in "Operation Influencer", aiming to reconstruct the institutional decisions taken within that investigation.
Source: Google News PT