Court annulled PJ's use of Xuxas' belongings, but police claim ignorance of ruling
A 2022 ruling declared void the decision by Luís Neves to assign seized assets to Rúben Oliveira to the PJ. The defence will request a court audit.
2022 ruling annulled operational use of Xuxas' belongings, but PJ admits it was not informed
Rúben Oliveira, known as Xuxas, was "perplexed" to learn that Luís Neves was driving his car. The defendant's lawyer, who is detained at Monsanto Prison, a high-security facility, announced that he will request a court audit, claiming that the Judicial Police "will have to account for everything" and state "where the assets actually are". The statement was made in an interview with Exclusive on TVI, as reported by CNN Portugal.
In addition to the VW Golf GTD driven by the minister for Internal Administration, there are other assets removed from the home of the person identified by the PJ as one of the country's largest drug traffickers: three sofas, two chairs, fifteen gym equipment items and eight televisions, valued at at least some tens of thousands of euros.
2022 ruling declared void
Defence lawyer Vítor Parente Ribeiro presented a ruling dated 2022, signed by the Central Court of Criminal Investigation in Lisbon, which rejected Luís Neves' decision to claim approximately thirty items belonging to the defendant for operational use by the PJ — amongst them the televisions, the gym equipment, the sofas and the chairs.
The document, which TVI/CNN Portugal had access to, states that "the ruling issued by the Director National of the PJ (on the presumption of seizure when arrest had already been determined) is non-existent and consequently unable to produce any effect".
Two lawyers consulted by Exclusive on TVI confirmed that, in light of the judge's conclusions, the PJ was prevented from using the aforementioned assets.
Legal experts: declaration of operational utility is "a legal nullity"
Fernanda Pinheiro, former president of the Bar Association, explained that the ruling states, in practical terms, that "the declaration of operational utility is void", ceasing "the possibility of the Judicial Police, or any other criminal police body, using the defendant's assets, in the face of such a ruling".
Lawyer António Ferreira de Cima added that "the declaration by the then national director of the PJ is a legal nullity. It is non-existent and, consequently, unable to produce any effect", in accordance with the Public Prosecutor's opinion and the understanding of the investigating judge.
Ferreira de Cima further argued that the ruling "should have been communicated to the Judicial Police because it interferes with what the Judicial Police has — an asset that is being used unlawfully, according to this ruling".
The minister's car and the Public Prosecutor's inquiry
The 2022 ruling does not cover the VW Golf GTD used by Luís Neves. The use of that vehicle is the subject of an inquiry by the Public Prosecutor's office, as confirmed on Thursday by the Prosecutor General, without the reasons for the investigation having yet been clarified.
Vítor Parente Ribeiro has no doubt that, like the other assets, the car driven by the minister also could not have been declared of operational utility, since it was arrested and not seized — two legal classifications with distinct objectives. Several legal experts have already contested that it is legally possible for a vehicle from an ongoing case, without final judgment, to be used by a ministry and not merely by a police force, although this interpretation is not unanimous.
PJ admits uncertainty about whether it was informed of the ruling
In a response sent to TVI/CNN Portugal, the PJ guaranteed that the VW Golf is seized and confirmed that the other assets arrested from Xuxas are in police custody, being used "in various units of this police force".
Asked whether it was informed by the court and/or by the Public Prosecutor's office of the judge's ruling, dated 7 November 2022, which declared void Luís Neves' ruling, the PJ admitted it was not in a position to answer: "Since we no longer have access to the case file, from the time the PJ's investigations were finalised, we are unable to answer this question with objectivity at the present time."
Fernanda Pinheiro had already anticipated this doubt before the PJ's response reached the newsroom: "The police may be using the assets in the belief that they submitted a declaration and because they submitted it the assets are assigned to them. If no one told them otherwise… They cannot, but they use them without knowing that they cannot use those assets."
Defence requests urgent court audit
Vítor Parente Ribeiro revealed that, until seeing the TVI/CNN Portugal/Nascer do Sol report about the car driven by the minister, he never believed the assets had actually been used — something he described as "surreal".
Rúben Oliveira was detained in 2022 and sentenced to 20 years in prison at first instance, awaiting the outcome of his appeal. The defence will now request that the court carry out "immediately an audit within the scope of the case, to find out where each of these assets is" and for what purposes they are being used.
Source: CNN Portugal