The origin of my research work, which started during the 15th Constitutional Government led by José Manuel Durão Barroso and Paulo Portas, was the news coverage of the alleged clandestine investigations on politicians and personalities from several walks of life, which gave rise to major public dispute. The publication of the first article was my wake-up call and I became aware of the lack of public scrutiny on the regulation and activity of the ‘Secret Services’ Since then, the top-level successive dismissals, resignations and appointments in the Information Services, as well as the regulation regarding an umbrella organisation – the Portuguese Republic Intelligence System –, fell prey to my journalistic investigation. I published other works to call attention more replacements that were made during the mandate of the 16th Constitutional Government led by Pedro Santana Lopes.

After José Sócrates took up office as prime minister of the 17th Constitutional Government, and even before reaching a conclusion on the transfer of a top-level officer from the ‘secret services’ to his Office – José Almeida Ribeiro – I disclosed the fulminating devastation of the leadership of the SIED, SIS and DIMIL (military information division). The terrorist attacks following the 11th of September of 2001 in New York weren’t sufficient to explain such a revolution in the Portuguese ‘Secret Services’, despite the unprecedented media campaign to magnify the fear and terror. Albeit tolerating, with difficulty, the traditional replacements in critical positions as the succeeding Governments changed, after the election of the socialist majority an unthinkable level was reached that immediately began to be commented upon, secretly at first, behind the scenes of the Government. The degree of havoc was such that, contrary to what was the norm, the leap from that microcosm to the public opinion took place in a very short space of time. Political vulgarity went beyond the limits of democratic tradition.

Control of the Information Services has always been a political aspiration of some leaders. In my opinion, due to their respective personal and political profiles, Durão Barroso and José Sócrates fit perfectly into this piteous desideratum. In fact, one started and the other concluded a change that left the ‘Services’ under the dependence of the prime minister, with the means to undertake any type of action, and I repeat, any type of action.

The personal power project began by being a valid investigation clue but I quickly reached the conclusion that there had to be other reasons for such unbridled control in such a short space of time, which involved the Criminal Police Bodies, among many other State Departments.

There had to be an explanation. But which? (...)

PREFACE JORGE FERREIRA 9

AUTHOR’S NOTE 15

INTRODUCTION 19

POLITICAL CONTROL 25

REVOLUTION IN THE ‘Secret Services’ 33

PRISONS, FLIGHTS AND SHIPS 45

IN THE NAME OF LIBERTY 69

FACES OF CENSORSHIP 81

ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE AND DEPARTMENT OF INVESTIGATION AND PENAL ACTION 93

PARTICIPATION AND OMISSION? 113

CONCLUSION 127

Annexes

ANNEX 1 – State Secret Law 140

ANNEX 2 – Statutory Law of the Portuguese Republic Intelligence System 146

ANNEX 3 – Air traffic form (Lajes and Santa Maria) 158

ANNEX 4 – Report on how the Portuguese Information Services operate 160

ANNEX 5 – Hearing of Armando Spataro, Milan prosecutor 167

ANNEX 6 – Letter from Diogo Freitas do Amaral 216

ANNEX 7 – North American “classified” documents 219

ANNEX 8 – Last page of the “Diário de Notícias” 224

ANNEX 9 – Interview with the “Diário de Notícias” (unpublished) 225

Rui Costa Pinto, 47 years old.

Journalist.

He attended the Paris Institute of Political Sciences.

He has performed several duties in both the written and spoken Media.
Diário e Semanário Económico
Diário de Notícias
TDM - Macau
Semanário ‘O Independente’
Revista ‘Visão’