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Lawyers of Portugal's ex-PM insist on his innocence amid criminal proceedings

Xinhua, September 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The lawyer of Jose Socrates, Portugal's former Socialist prime minister, insisted on his innocence on Saturday, according to local media reports.

Joao Araujo told a press conference that the fact that he was released from prison and put under house arrest on Friday night was "not a victory" and that the Prosecutor's Office took the decision to release him from prison because it had no proof to retain Socrates in preventive prison after nine months.

Socrates was detained last year amid allegations of corruption, money laundering and tax fraud. He governed Portugal from 2005 to 2011 and resigned amid a debt crisis which forced him to ask for an international bailout.

There has been no formal indictment against Socrates and his lawyer says he will appeal against the Prosecutor's Office's decision.

On Friday the Prosecutor's office said in a statement that Socrates would remain under house arrest without an ankle monitor and is prohibited from contacting other defendants in this case. Endit