Portugal Suspends Decision to Strip Witness Protection from Rui Pinto

The Portuguese authorities have reversed their decision to strip witness protection from Rui Pinto, the whistleblower whose leaks played a significant role in investigations including the one against Manchester City, according to reports by the British newspaper The Guardian.

Witness Protection Suspended

Pinto's protection was originally scheduled to end, but the Portuguese Ministry of Justice announced the suspension of the decision. This came after the committee responsible for special security programs admitted that Pinto was not given a proper opportunity to present his arguments before the decision to remove his protection was made.

The committee will now provide Pinto with the risk assessment reports upon which its original decision was based, which concluded that the threat level to his security was low. He will be given ten working days to review the documents and respond to the conclusions before the matter is re-evaluated. The original decision was made in a meeting held on July 9 but was only delivered to him on September 30, a day after Manchester City's conviction for Premier League rule violations was upheld by an independent commission.

Whistleblower Concerns

Pinto, who feared for his life following death threats and after being attacked in Lisbon last April, even launched a crowdfunding campaign to secure his financial future in case protection was removed. Following the intervention of Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Judice, he expressed satisfaction with the turn of events but sharply criticized the committee that made the original decision.

The decision was contrary to the law and constituted a blatant abuse of authority, Pinto stated, adding that although the minister's intervention brought the procedure back within a legal framework, he has lost trust in the committee members.

Pinto has been under witness protection since April 2020, when he agreed to cooperate with the judicial police in Portugal and grant investigators access to millions of documents he obtained from football clubs, companies, and other entities suspected of illegal activity. His exposures have led to legal, financial, and sporting investigations across Europe, notably assisting the Premier League's investigation against Manchester City.

His lawyers argue that the authorities must consider his contribution to investigations and the dangers created by his exposures before removing his protection. Pinto himself made it clear that he remains willing to cooperate with authorities in Britain regarding Manchester City and other affairs, having also transferred millions of documents to investigators in France.