The leader of the Aquida, André Ventura, made it clear that he “suspects” more of the Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, than of the Judicial Police. Ventura says ruler may have lied “to cover up his colleague from the Home Office”.
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09/09/2026
by
News to Minutes
O president of Cávez, André Ventura, reacted this Wednesday to the statements of the Minister for Justice, Rita Alarcão Júdice, who was called to Parliament today.
“Everything could have happened. We want to believe that the institutions in Portugal that have the duty to investigate and investigate criminal and police nature do not lie – neither to their citizens nor to their rulers who protect them”, pointed out in statements to journalists in the Assembly of the Republic.
Underlining that “it is necessary to understand what happened,” Ventura said the national director of the PJ “should also explain what information he gave to the Minister of Justice to prevent the Minister of Justice from continuing to say and to determine that the PJ lied to him”.
“ We have every right to suspect it's the other way around. The Minister of Justice lied to Parliament to cover up her colleague from the Home Office. This suspicion is more reasonable than the suspicion that PJ lied to the Minister of Justice”, considered.
Speaking of the statements made a few hours ago, Ventura pointed out that the ruler “made it clear to the whole country that, after all, the amount of EUR 150,000 for the destruction of the material was not only that material, it was all material. Nothing's been done. We didn't know where this stuff was. And where is this stuff? Both the seized material and the drug itself”.
In Parliament, Ventura also said that the polemics in question represented a “lamaçal” and that “there is beginning to be, I have already told the President of the Republic, severe suspicions of collusion, misconduct and behaviour absolutely inappropriate with criminals by Minister Luís Neves”.
Still as for Rita Alarcão Júdice, Ventura said she had two chances: “Or he would demarcate this and say ‘I have nothing to do with this’ or try to explain why his behaviour was a cover-up and a lie to Parliament. And that did not happen.”.
The Minister of Justice was heard in the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees at the request of the Aquida, regarding an incident that occurred at the Lisbon Prison Institution (EPL). However, that is not all he spoke about – and what stands out, of his statements, actually has to do with the Luís Neves case.
Rita Alarcão Judice assured, in Parliament, that no one lied about the information about the destruction of chemicals seized in Operation Pacoba and said that she asked for clarifications directly from the National Director of the Judicial Police.
The governor stressed to the deputies that “there was no lie, no one lied” in relation to the 144,000 euro requests for chemical destruction by the PJ.