| Portugal child sex trial begins |
Print this story |
The trial of seven people accused of forming a child sex ring in Portuguese care homes has begun in Lisbon.
The accused include a TV presenter, a former top diplomat, and a former director of the Casa Pia children’s home network.
Abuse at Casa Pia is said to have started in the mid-1970s, but was only discovered in 2002.
About 700 witnesses and 32 alleged victims, some of them under 16 years old, are due to testify in the case.
The scandal has gripped Portugal since it was revealed by a whistleblower.
The alleged abuse took place at the Lisbon-based Casa Pia, a state-run network with 10 homes looking after more than 4,000 children.
Social workers at the homes say more than 100 children still at the institution show signs of having been sexually molested.
’I’ve never lied’
Parts of central Lisbon were cordoned off and a crowd gathered outside the court to watch the defendants arrive.
The BBC’s Alison Roberts in Lisbon says that, despite police help, defendants had trouble pushing their way through the crowd of journalists and members of the public outside the court.
After delays at almost every stage of the investigation, representatives of the former victims say it is most important that the trial finally starts, our correspondent adds.
Among those accused are Portuguese television presenter Carlos Cruz and a former ambassador, Jorge Ritto.
Approaching the court on Thursday, Mr Cruz told Portuguese SIC television: I want, and all Portuguese want, that the truth be found in a rapid manner. I’ve never lied in my life.
Mr Cruz, who faces five charges of abusing minors and one homosexual act with an adolescent, says he is innocent.
He claims he has been implicated in the case so as to draw attention away from other unspecified crimes at the homes.
Conspiracy to abuse?
The central defendant is Carlos Silvino, a driver for Casa Pia for several years, who is accused of 669 acts of abuse, and allegedly procured children for others to abuse.
Mr Silvino, the only defendant being held in detention ahead of the trial, arrived at the Boa Hora court under armed guard and wearing a bullet proof vest.
Approached by a television reporter two years ago and told of the investigation, Mr Silvino allegedly hinted at a high-level conspiracy.
They can’t touch me, there are too many powerful people involved, Reuters reported him as saying.
A former director of Casa Pia, Manuel Abrantes, is also on trial.
A woman, Gertrudes Nunes, is accused of providing her house to be used for abuse.
But a Portuguese judge threw out the cases against ex-government minister Paulo Pedroso, TV comedian Herman Jose and archaeologist Francisco Alves.
An opinion poll published in the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias revealed that 64.3% of people do not believe justice will be done, the AFP news agency reported.
Lawyers say they expect the trial to last until the middle of 2005.
|
| DUP ’not committed’ says Adams - Nov 26, 2004 18:35 IST |
|
The Sinn Fein leader has been updating his party’s national executive (Ard Chomhairle) in Dublin on Thursday over the latest efforts to restore devolution.
The DUP will brief its executive on the ongoing efforts on Friday night.
|
| Students put university on eBay - Nov 26, 2004 18:34 IST |
|
The university wants to end degrees in music, chemistry and Italian.
On Wednesday night, the highest mock bid was £10m and the page had received more than 4,000 hits. The auction website removed the page on Thursday.
|
| Rabbis clean up spicy soap advert - Nov 26, 2004 18:26 IST |
|
The star of risque sitcom Sex and the City is known around the world for her glamorous gowns and chi-chi heels.
But conservative Jews were so offended by the bare flesh in a Lux soap advert that rabbis called for a mass boycott by the Orthodox community.
|
| Greens call for supermarket code - Nov 26, 2004 18:24 IST |
|
The party said that the big four supermarket chains were putting local farmers out of business.
Green MSPs want regulations put in place to help encourage local production and aid smaller retailers.
|
| NI proposals ’ready for publishing’ - Nov 26, 2004 18:23 IST |
|
Speaking after meeting Tony Blair at Downing Street, Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said officials would provide the parties with written answers to their questions.
However, he added that the two governments could not go on clarifying their proposals forever.
|
| GAO to Probe Vote Counting - Nov 26, 2004 18:21 IST |
|
The Government Accountability Office said Tuesday it will investigate how the vote was counted in the Nov. 2 election, with an eye toward answering persistent questions about voting irregularities in many states, including Ohio and Florida, which were crucial to President Bush’s win.
|
| Air Force Staff Sergeant Walter Campbell is one of Texas’ Hottest Comedians! - Nov 26, 2004 18:5 IST |
|
San Antonio, TX (PRWEB) November 25, 2004 -- Walter Campbell, one of San Antonio funniest comedians will be the featured comedian at the Rivercenter Comedy Club downtown San Antonio, TX December 15th thru the 19th with Headliner Rick Gutierrez. Having recently opened for legendary comedian Sinbad at the Lila Cockrell Theater in October, Walter is exploding onto the comedy scene and taking no prisoners.
|
| Cyber solutions for Las Vegas Weddings - Nov 26, 2004 18:1 IST |
|
Las Vegas brides gained a new wedding planning resource in http://www.WhereBridesGo.com. This online retail storefront is now part of http://www.VegasWeddingGuide.com, a local online bridal information source in Las Vegas, NV.
WhereBridesGo.com features wedding favors, bridal accessories, wedding party gifts and designer wedding sets from national suppliers. In addition to reception and ceremony items, including invitations and programs, WhereBridesGo.com offers 24 hour secure online shopping with click and ship delivery.
|
| Back to square one in Kashmir after Aziz visit? - Nov 26, 2004 16:19 IST |
|
With a tinge of reality always underlining hope here, nobody in Jammu and Kashmir really expected anything earthshaking from the visit by Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to New Delhi, but the despondency persists anyway.
|
| Centre to help trace abducted NHPC officials - Nov 26, 2004 16:17 IST |
|
A week after the abduction of two National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) officials, the federal home ministry has assured help to Bihar in tracing them.
The assurance came following a request by union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh.
|
| Devotees set up website on Shankaracharya - Nov 26, 2004 16:3 IST |
|
A new website set up by followers of the Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram seeks to disseminate authentic information about the controversy surrounding his arrest in a murder case.
|
| Russia, Ukraine ponder next move - Nov 26, 2004 16:1 IST |
|
Protests by tens of thousands of people in the wake of the victory of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who was backed by Russia in Ukraine’s polls, suggest that Moscow has less of a firm grip on its former republic than it previously believed.
|
| Bomb blast kills one in Pakistan - Nov 26, 2004 15:59 IST |
|
At least one person was killed and 15 were injured when a bomb went off in a busy market in Pakistan’s Balochistan province Thursday, reports Xinhua.
|
| Two policemen, two guerrillas die in Kashmir - Nov 26, 2004 15:53 IST |
|
Two policemen died instantly and another was critically wounded when separatist guerrillas fired at a group of police commandos in Jammu and Kashmir Thursday.
|
| How to Attract New Business Like George W. Bush Wins Elections - Nov 26, 2004 15:47 IST |
|
Small to medium-sized business can learn a lot about attracting new customers by studying how George W Bush won the US Election.
Bush won with an increased majority with a campaign message of building trust to overcome people’s anxiety about the future.
“In a time of stress and crisis, Bush was able to connect with the masses, and this is what businesses should be doing,” said marketing expert and International Business Speaker, Thomas Murrell, CEO of the Australian-based 8M Media and Communications.
|
| A bird in the Hand: RMC and BirdLife Do More Than Improve Biodiversity Together - Nov 26, 2004 15:39 IST |
|
One is the world’s largest supplier of aggregates with operations in 17 countries; the other is an international charity striving for the conservation of the world’s birds.
Together they form a remarkable partnership which proves that businesses and NGOs can function together in pursuit of a common goal.
Improving biodiversity in quarries:
The alliance was designed to capitalize on shared objectives of sustainable development and biodiversity. Noel Morrin, international environment director at RMC, explains: “RMC wants to continue to grow, but in a sound environmental way.
|
| Life In The USA! - Nov 26, 2004 15:36 IST |
|
Book Description
The Little House on the Corner is an adorable story about a young girl and her little brother who along with their parents move into their grandparent’s home which is located on the corner of a peaceful dead end street.
The first two years living there were lonely because there were no children their age living in the neighborhood, but soon enough several families moved in at the dead end. The story is about that one-year period when the children along with their parents become not only friends but also Best Friends.
|
| Maoists arrested for rally bid - Nov 26, 2004 15:26 IST |
|
Hundreds of Maoist activists were arrested Thursday when they tried to hold a rally in the Indian capital without official permission to do so.
|
| BJP demands ban on cow slaughter - Nov 26, 2004 15:21 IST |
|
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded a total ban on cow slaughter in the country and vowed to raise the issue in parliament when it meets Dec 1.
|
| Bangladesh plans crackdown on illegal cell phones - Nov 26, 2004 15:15 IST |
|
Bangladesh has decided to crack down on the sale of smuggled and stolen cell phones to discourage black marketing, which reportedly constitutes 90 percent of this multimillion-dollar industry here.
|
|
|
|
|
