Lisbon, July 10, 2025 (Lusa) - Former Prime Minister José Sócrates said in court on Thursday that Lena was not “the regime’s company,” claiming that data shows that its share of contracts decreased during his government.
Citing figures from the Association of Construction and Public Works Companies (AECOPS) and the public company Parque Escolar, the former government official assured that between 2005 and 2011 Lena’s share of central government contracts was 2.54%, while in the previous six years it had been 2.93%.
This latter period, he pointed out, includes the governments of António Guterres (PS) and José Manuel Durão Barroso (PSD).
“The [Public Prosecutor’s Office] campaign was so strong that the newspapers reported Lena as the regime’s company. […] The claim is inaccurate, entirely inaccurate, and these figures demonstrate the inaccuracy,” said the former socialist prime minister on the third day of questioning in the Operation Marquês trial.
Prosecutors have charged José Sócrates, 67, with 22 crimes, including three counts of corruption for allegedly receiving money to benefit the Lena group, the Espírito Santo Group (GES) and the Vale do Lobo development in the Algarve in separate cases.
Among the projects associated with the Lena group are the renovation of schools under the Parque Escolar programme, a matter concerning which the president of the panel of judges, Susana Seca, acknowledged today that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has not alleged any “concrete facts”.
For José Sócrates, this chapter of the indictment, dated 2017, “is pure slander” by prosecutors to attack “a political banner” of his government.
“I realised only recently that the right wing’s political passion for Parque Escolar had influenced the Public Prosecutor’s Office,” he said ironically.
The interrogation of the former prime minister (2005-2011) will continue on 15 July with statements on the TGV (high-speed rail) project and other cases linked to the Lena group.
The case involves a total of 21 defendants, and the prosecution has charged them with 117 economic and financial crimes.
The trial began on 3 July at the Central Criminal Court in Lisbon, 11 years after authorities arrested José Sócrates.
The defendants have generally maintained their innocence.
IB/ADB // ADB.
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