Ana Velho, called in because the lawyer appointed by José Sócrates is in hospital, claimed she was unable to defend the former head of government (2005-2011), but the court ruled that she could not be excused from the role and gave her five days to contact José Sócrates and familiarise herself with the case.
She was the second court-appointed lawyer to be appointed to represent the former socialist leader, after Inês Louro, the first to be called and former president of the Azambuja Parish Council for the PS, invoked conscientious objection on the grounds that she was a member of Chega.
At the end of November, José Sócrates appointed José Preto as his lawyer in the Operation Marquês case, replacing Pedro Delille, who, on 4 November, resigned from defending the former prime minister after 11 years of representing him.
José Preto wanted five and a half months to familiarise himself with the case, but on 26 November 2025, the request was rejected by the Lisbon Central Criminal Court, which formally granted ten days for the defence to study the case and rescheduled the start of proceedings for 6 January.
On 3 January 2026, José Preto informed the court that he was hospitalised, sending a hospital statement two days later to prove the situation. The president of the panel of judges announced today in the order issued at the hearing in which she extended the suspension of the trial.
Susana Seca also maintained, in response to Ana Velho’s insistence that, given the complexity of the case, she is not in a position to represent José Sócrates, that since José Preto did not appoint a colleague to represent him, the former government official must legally be represented by a court-appointed lawyer.
“It is not possible to dispense with legal representation,” she said, admitting that Ana Velho may be dismissed from the role, at her request, at the end of the five-day period granted.
What are the charges?
José Sócrates, 68, is charged with 22 crimes, including three counts of corruption, for allegedly receiving money to benefit the Lena group, the Espírito Santo Group (GES) and the Algarve resort of Vale do Lobo.
In total, there are 21 defendants in the case, who have generally denied committing the 117 economic and financial crimes with which they are charged.
The offences are alleged to have been committed between 2005 and 2014 and, in the first half of this year, the oldest corruption offences related to Vale do Lobo may become time-barred, according to the court.
José Sócrates and the other defendants were excused by the court from appearing at the trial, which began on 3 July 2025, and have all been absent from the last few sessions.