The Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, stated on Friday that the 144 thousand euros requested for chemical destruction by the Judicial Police covered more processes than just the trailer seized in Operation Pacoba, refusing to acknowledge any contradiction with statements by the Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves. The minister said she did not yet have as detailed information as she would like on the matter.
On the sidelines of the ceremony to swear in 107 new notaries in Lisbon, Rita Alarcão Júdice commented on Luís Neves' press conference, in which he stated he decided to hand over the trailer to the company Construbarcelos after receiving a budget of around 150 thousand euros for the destruction of the chemicals, a value the PJ could not afford. The minister said she would not comment on her colleague's statements and that she merely provided the information she gathered.
The case of the trailer with seized chemicals is one of the controversies surrounding Luís Neves' tenure leading the PJ. By decision of the current minister, the trailer was handed over to a contractor from Barcelos, João Carvalho, whom Neves acknowledged as a friend and who won 17 construction contracts at the PJ, in addition to being hired by Neves for personal construction work at his property in Odemira.
The case is currently under criminal investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office, one of three involving Luís Neves, confirmed the Attorney General, Amadeu Guerra. Audits of the PJ are also underway covering the period when it was led by Neves, including an internal audit requested by his successor, Carlos Cabreiro, and another conducted by the General Inspectorate of Justice Services, whose conclusions the minister expects by the end of the year.
