Ana Rita Duarte de Campos comments on the resumption of the Operation Marquês trial after the judicial holidays

In an update on Operation Marquês, featured on Observador’s Justiça Cega programme, Ana Rita Duarte de Campos comments on the trial as proceedings resume following the judicial holidays.

The lawyer explains that, in the initial stage of a trial such as this one, the defendants are identified and may choose whether or not to make statements. Even if they decide to speak, it is not an interrogation, but merely answers to questions put by the presiding judge of the panel.

“The defendant has the right to challenge all the evidence in the case and to comment on all the facts. The right to silence is also an expression of the exercise of that right of defence, and there are cases in which defendants do not speak from beginning to end,” says the co-coordinator of the Criminal, Sanctions and Compliance practice area at Abreu Advogados.

Listen to the full episode of the programme here (available only in Portuguese).