Lawyer Orlando Figueira was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for corruption by former Angolan vice president Manuel Vicente four years ago. Operation PhysHe was finally removed from the public ministry.
This information was provided by the magazine Visão and confirmed by PÚBLICO. The decision was taken by the Disciplinary Division of the High Council of the Public Ministry two weeks ago. The magistrate can still appeal to the full forum of the body and challenge his dismissal in the Supreme Administrative Court.
The disciplinary process aimed at the prosecutor has dragged on for more than six years, resulting in delays in applying the sentence because the state attorney’s office has chosen to wait for the conclusion of the criminal process. It was in December last year, then Confirmation of sentence Presented with the charge by the Lisbon Court of Appeal, it proposes the dismissal of Orlando Figueira, the severest disciplinary punishment of the judiciary. The magistrate has yet to serve a prison term as his final sentence is pending an appeal to the Constitutional Court.
Orlando Figueira returned to the judiciary in February 2019 The sentence was handed down in December last year Corruption, money laundering, breach of justice and fraud. Since there is a provision in the Law of the Public Ministry, which determines the automatic suspension of prosecutors, “from the day they are notified of the order indicating the day of trial for a crime committed during their activities or for a punishable crime. With a prison sentence of more than three years “, this already happened, Orlando Figueroa could not return to his duties.
“[O magistrado] From that moment, the Public Prosecutor’s Office is barred from functioning under the terms of the Act (Art. Deadline Date). For this reason, Orlando Figueira consistently received a gross monthly salary of more than 5600 euros, i.e. Around 3500 liquid eurosAccording to Orlando Figueira, he told PÚBLICO in 2019 when he decided to return to the public ministry at the end of the unpaid leave he had been enjoying since September 2012.
