Paulo Margato, a doctor, regional deputy for the PPM party, and candidate for Mayor of the Municipality of Vilado Porto in Corvo, in the upcoming local elections, has been charged following searches carried out by the Judicial Police at the island’s health center and at his own home. He is now subject to coercive measures requiring him to remain at his place of residence and provide proof of identity. At issue are fraudulent medical prescriptions issued over the last five years at that hospital.

According to the Secretariat of Health and Social Security, the searches took place three days after the authorities requested access to the hospital’s medical prescriptions from the hospital’s board of directors. Meanwhile, in a statement to the media, Paulo Margato announced that he will file a complaint with several entities, as he believes the searches violated the law and the Constitution. “Nothing in this case justifies searches of this nature and scale so close to the election, which directly calls into question the proportionality, timeliness, and institutional neutrality of the intervention,” argued the candidate of the ‘For a Corvo with a Future’ Movement. He adds that he was charged and subject to coercive measures of identification and residence, which “demonstrates the absence of any procedural risk,” according to him.

The local candidate considers that the operation was “conducted with disproportionate and unprecedented apparatus” and “accompanied by leaks of information” to the media, in “clear violation of judicial secrecy.” “The operation had a devastating impact on public perception, generating immediate political repercussions and irreversibly affecting equal opportunities among candidates,” he adds. He also alleges that the searches “seriously” violate the Constitution by undermining the “guarantee of free, equal, and identical elections,” the “binding of all public entities to rights, freedoms, and guarantees,” the “duty of impartiality,” and the “limitation of security forces to legality and respect for fundamental rights.” He also argues that the Local Government Electoral Law has been violated, which “establishes the immunity of candidates during the election period, preventing the adoption of judicial or police measures that could harm their campaign, except in cases of flagrante delicto for serious crimes.” He then asked the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) to “verify the conformity of the magistrates’ actions,” “assess the procedural appropriateness,” and “conduct internal investigations.”

Paulo Margato also submitted “urgent requests for intervention” to the National Election Commission, the Ombudsman, the higher councils of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judiciary, and the Inspectorate-General of Internal Administration. Finally, the now defendant says that the situation “indicates the possible existence of a sprawling network of contacts between law enforcement officials and local and regional political interests,” since, in his view, the situation favored the candidacy of the PS, which leads the municipality. Paulo Margato had already been charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with six other crimes as part of Operation Asclepius, which began in 2015. In March last year, the doctor resigned from the Board of Directors of the Corvo Island Health Unit due to incompatibilities with his position as a member of the Regional Parliament.

in Diário dos Açores-Paulo Viveiros, director

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.