Duarte Lima begins to be tried Thursday for the murder of Rosalina

Quase 17 years after the death of Rosalina Ribeiro, begins on Thursday the trial of the former deputy of PSD Duarte Lima, accused of the murder of the woman of 74 years, with the hearing of the defendant and a witness.

The first day of trial, scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Sintra Court, is reserved for the hearing of Duarte Lima, who should opt for silence after identifying himself before the collective of judges, according to the information to which Lusa had access.

In addition to Duarte Lima, the court expects to hear in the afternoon of Thursday the witness Rosemary Espinola, close friend of Rosalina Ribeiro and one of the first people to indicate the disappearance.

Despite the beginning of the trial, Duarte Lima's defense understands that the crime of murder has already prescribed and sent to the court on Monday an application which explains that, according to Brazilian law, the crime of homicide prescribes after 20 years, but this period reduces to half if the defendant is over 70 years old – Duarte Lima is precisely 70 years old.

Now, according to the request made by the newspaper Público and consulted by Lusa, Duarte Lima's lawyer wants the court to consider the prescription, and the prosecutor will have to pronounce on the issue.

“ According to Brazilian law, the punitiveness is extinct, so it must be declared extinct, by prescription, the present criminal procedure ", indicated the defense to the court of Sintra.

This case began in December 2009, when Rosalina Ribeiro, widow of millionaire Tomé Feteira, was killed with two shots in Maricá, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and found the next day in Saquarema, on a dirt road hit about 100 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro.

The motive of the crime, defends the prosecutor, was a transfer of 5.2 million euros made by Rosalina Ribeiro to an account of the former parliamentary leader of the PSD.

According to the prosecution, the lawyer wanted the widow of Tomé Feteira to sign a document that proved that the money transferred was, after all, Duarte Lima, but Rosalina Ribeiro denied such a request. Faced with the refusal, the lawyer will have killed Rosalina Ribeiro.

Duarte Lima argued, over the last few years, that the more than five million euros concerned fees due for years of services provided to Rosalina Ribeiro, a version contradicted by the daughter of businessman and millionaire Tomé Feteira, who argued that the money was diverted from accounts belonging to the father and who, moreover, came to file a complaint against Duarte Lima for abuse of trust – a crime that was acquitted in 2019.

The beginning of the trial was scheduled for November 2022, but it was postponed several times – first due to lack of notification of witnesses in Brazil and then due to the lack of recordings.

The Portuguese court has repeatedly asked the Brazilian courts to send the missing documentation, which are recordings, having even made this year, via Attorney General's Office (PGR), a new request, this time for the process to be sent in physical and not digital format.