Portuguese attorney-general denies allegations against Socialist leader

RTP Internacional TV, Lisbon

Attorney-General Jose Souto de Moura has denied allegations carried by today's edition of weekly newspaper Expresso that the leader of the opposition Socialist Party, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, has participated in paedophile acts, Portuguese state TV RTP reported on Saturday 24 May.

"A significant share of the facts which have been reported as being part of the investigation, are in fact not being pursued," reads a communique issued by the Attorney-General Office today in which it denies any involvement of the Socialist leader in the ongoing investigation into an alleged paedophilia ring at a state-funded Lisbon boys' home.

The same document, shown on RTP, stresses that "in order to bring an accusation against an individual, especially involving paedophilia-related crimes, it must be corroborated with sufficiently reliable evidence, the judging of which falls exclusively to those in charge of the investigation."

"Ferro Rodrigues is not a suspect of any crime in relation to the Casa Pia case, and, as far as I am aware, nor any other crime," Jose Souto de Moura told the state channel on Thursday. His office has also announced a probe into alleged breaches of secrecy rules.

The Casa Pia investigation has been sending shockwaves through the country and has already led to the preventive arrest of several people, including a retired diplomat, a TV anchorman, a former carer at the boys' home, and, most recently, a former Socialist cabinet minister usually described as a young star in his party.