The Portuguese Prosecutor's Office affirms that it will continue with the 'Influencer' operation despite the judicial setback

April 18 () –

The Portuguese Prosecutor's Office has assured this Thursday that it will continue with the investigation of the 'Influencer' case, a day after the Lisbon Court of Appeals rejected its appeal and discarded suspicions about former Prime Minister António Costa, describing them as “mere speculation.” “.

Despite this decision, the Prosecutor's Office has announced that it will continue to move forward in order to, in the terms established by law, “investigate the facts that are likely to lead to the commission of crimes, determining who and their responsibility,” as stated. Portuguese media.

All this after the day before, the Portuguese Justice indicated that it sees no indication that businessman Diogo Lacerda Machado exerted any pressure on Costa to establish a data center in the town of Sines, or on any other matter during his mandate.

Those suspicions accelerated the resignation of Costa in November 2023, who had an absolute majority and was halfway through the legislature. The 'Influencer' operation left several arrests and dozens of searches, including one at the official residence of the prime minister in Sao Bento.

However, the Lisbon Court of Appeals has given a new setback to the Prosecutor's Office and has described as “inept” the work it has carried out in relation to this matter since it would have been “essential” for it to have described “some objective behavior” of Costa that would have made it possible to prove these accusations.

The court not only rules out any involvement of Costa, but also any indication of crime in said operation by any of those investigated, including the aforementioned Lacerda Machado and the former chief of staff Vítor Escária, whose preventive detention measures have been annulled. that the Prosecutor's Office requested.

Both had appealed to the court about the precautionary measures imposed by the Prosecutor's Office, which now sees both of them being withdrawn, so they will be able to leave the country and in the case of Lacerda Machado his bail of 150,000 euros is withdrawn.

The ruling also maintains that another of those named, the former Minister of Infrastructure Joao Galamba – who was not arrested, but was charged – would be nothing more than a politician interested in promoting said data center in Sines since it was a project of national interest.