“The entire strengthening and resurgence of the PJ began around 2020, 2021, 2022, with the support of the current Government and will bear fruit in the future.” The words are from Luís Neves, national director of this police, in statements to DN after a Transparency International conference on combating corruption, held this Friday (12 December).
According to the person responsible, the Judicial Police already “has more people”, but making it stronger and equipped with more resources “takes time to build”. But this, he assumed, “is the big focus”. In 2022, remember, the Executive led by António Costa announced a reinforcement of 1100 staff (from different categories), applicable until next year.
With regard to combating corruption, Luís Neves explained to DN that the Government’s anti-corruption strategy, approved a year ago, is an integral part of this fight, as it has “a very special focus on the issue of effective conviction” of those who commit this type of offense.
Earlier, in the opening session, Gonçalo da Cunha Pires, Deputy Secretary of State and Justice, reviewed the Government’s measures in this area, with a focus on the loss of assets for those who commit corruption crimes. There must be, he said, “a firm conviction that combating illicit enrichment ensures that crime does not pay.”
Before the governor, the president of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Corruption (MENAC), José Mouraz Lopes, also explained the strategy of this entity, which operates mainly on two fronts. On the one hand, as an “agent provocateur” by creating a culture of integrity and, after that, by ensuring that laws are complied with (even though it does not have judicial powers as it is an administrative entity). But the focus, he assured, is always on preventing this type of illicit activity.
At the same event, deputy attorney general Ana Carla Almeida spoke in a panel moderated by the deputy director of the DN, Valentina Marcelino, who joined the table with economist José Maria Pimentel and the former president of the Court of Auditors, Vítor Caldeira.
In her statement, Ana Carla Almeida also left a request: that the prevention of corruption in Portugal not be “neglected.” Even though I also defend deterrent mechanisms, for anyone who wants to commit this type of crime, “stop doing it”. Also addressing the “slowness” of the processes, which she assumed existed, the judge made a proposal: that there be a “harvesting of knowledge” from the most diverse areas, to create “a multidisciplinary model” in the fight against corruption.