An investigative judge in Portugal questioned former Prime
Minister José Sócrates on Sunday to determine whether to charge him
with tax fraud, corruption and money-laundering in a probe that
could hurt his Socialist Party as it seeks to return to office in
next year's elections.
Mr. Sócrates, who was the country's prime minister from 2005 to
2011, was detained at Lisbon's airport late Friday when he arrived
from Paris and has been held since in a police jail.
The prosecutor general's office said it had initiated the
inquiry after a Portuguese bank reported suspicious banking
operations and money transfers. The announcement didn't specify the
time frame for the allegations or give other details, and no
charges have been filed against Mr. Sócrates.
The former Portuguese leader's defense lawyer, João Araújo, said
he wouldn't comment on the substance of the inquiry until Judge
Carlos Alexandre finished the closed hearing, which was set to
continue on Monday. The lawyer said only that his client had been
"in a great and strong state of mind" since his detention and
during Sunday's four-hour hearing.
The 57-year-old Mr. Sócrates, a civil engineer by training,
styled himself as a modernizer during his tenure as prime minister.
While he was in office, his government loosened restrictions on
abortion and introduced gay marriage in the mostly Roman Catholic
country and helped make Portugal a leader in Europe's drive to
adopt renewable energy.
His popularity, though, sank after overspending and soaring
government debt forced Portugal to take an international bailout in
2011. He resigned that year, in the middle of a second four-year
term, after Parliament rejected an austerity program put forward by
his minority government, triggering an early election won by the
center-right coalition that now governs Portugal.
It wasn't clear whether the investigation covers Mr. Sócrates's
tenure as prime minister. During that time, he faced several
judicial inquiries, including questions over whether he had misused
his position as environment minister in 2002 to allow the
construction of a shopping mall. He denied wrongdoing and the case
was shelved in 2010, with no charges filed.
After stepping down as prime minister, Mr. Sócrates moved to
Paris, where he studied at a university and worked for a
Swiss-based company as an international business consultant. He
returned to Portugal last year to start a career as a commentator
on public television.
In an interview in July with Portuguese state television, Mr.
Sócrates denied any involvement in an unrelated money-laundering
probe. He said he couldn't hide money because he didn't have much.
He said he had taken out a loan to live in Paris while
studying.
Mr. Sócrates's detention is a setback for the Socialist Party
and its newly chosen leader, popular Lisbon Mayor Antonio Costa, a
close ally who had served as a minister in his government.
In a message to party members before just his election to lead
the party, Mr. Costa sought to distance himself from the former
prime minister, saying "it isn't for the party to evaluate" the
case. "Whoever has committed an illegal act, that act will be
evaluated and judged by the justice system," he said.
Recent opinion surveys of voters have put the Socialists in the
lead over the parties in Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's
center-right coalition. Mr. Passos Coelho's government has lost
popularity as it carried out austerity policies demanded by the
country's bailout lenders, including tax increases and cuts in
wages and pensions.
The government has also been hurt by scandals. Interior Minister
Miguel Macedo resigned last week following the detentions of
several senior government officials in an investigation into money
laundering and influence-peddling in the awarding of so-called
"golden visas."
The program allows foreigners who buy property worth EUR500,000
($620,000) or more and keep it for at least five years to receive
residency rights in Portugal and visa-free travel throughout the
European Union's Schengen zone.
Patricia Kowsmann in Lisbon contributed to this article.
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