Former MEP Ana Gomes was today acquitted of defaming businessman Mário Ferreira of being linked to drug trafficking in a post on a social network.
According to the judge at the Bolhão court, where the trial took place, the defendant’s conduct does not constitute a crime of defamation.
At issue is the publication that the former MEP made on March 14, 2021 on her Twitter page, now called X, of a comment alluding to an article in the newspaper Expresso about Mário Ferreira’s investment in an aviation company, stating that the Porto businessman wanted to “emulate” OMNI Aviação e Tecnologia, a company that saw 500 tons seized from its plane coming from Brazil.
During the trial, Mário Ferreira was joined on the witness list by figures such as the former Minister of National Defense and now the new President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar Branco, the former Deputy Prime Minister Paulo Portas, the former ambassador José Pereira Gomes and the owner of the communications consultancy WLP, Luís Bernardo.
This is the fourth time that the owner of the Mystic Invest/Douro Azul group and TVI has sued the former presidential candidate for defamation.
In September 2023, the former MEP was ordered to pay a fine of 2,800 euros and compensation of 8,000 euros to Mário Ferreira for calling him a “scumbag”, also in a tweet.
However, on February 1, 2024, the Porto Court of Appeal acquitted her of this crime.
