After having announced that he intends to commence legal proceedings because he has been linked with Chega, César DePaço has now announced that he has filed a criminal complaint against Visão magazine, Cofina, SIC and their journalists, in the Portuguese courts.
César DePaço has also filed civil proceedings in a US Federal Court against Cofina and SIC and their journalists and also intends to commence such legal proceedings against Visão magazine.
In 2021, César DePaço, who is a Portuguese citizen and lives in the United States, instructed his lawyer to commence legal proceedings following his name being linked to Chega, and reports last year, in the US Portuguese newspaper “Luso-Americano” that he is “the party’s main backer”.
César DePaço writes: “Since the beginning of 2021, I have repeatedly been associated, in the Portuguese and international press, with the CHEGA political party, and have been identified as a backer, and even the major backer of that party”.
“I have also been targeted by, and been the main protagonist in, a television program, which was supposedly an investigation of the extreme right in Europe, which targeted me merely because I attended a party-political event and made a donation, in accordance with the law. The said fact does not mean that I am the backer of anything, or a member, strategist, or mentor of any political party, or movement. I am just a Portuguese citizen resident in the United States, who, one day, and out of curiosity, attended an event organised by a right-wing party, which has been recognised by the Constitutional Court, and whose leaders were introduced to me.”
In the press release, César DePaço stresses that there is “no proof, evidence, or even any fact that can justify the claims made by the journalists, that I am a backer of a political party. But the journalists persist, even though there is not the slightest factual evidence or proof to back their claim. They offer no proof, because there is none, and their claims are mere speculation and insinuation, which I can tolerate no longer.”
César DePaço states further: “During my life, I have made donations to some Portuguese so-called right-wing parties, to candidates to the office of President of the Republic, just like the custom in the USA, where citizens openly contribute to political parties, when they support their candidates.”
“That does not make me the backer, or main backer, of anything, as has been stated maliciously by some Portuguese press, which has, since that time, sought to defame my image savagely and unscrupulously. These efforts have ranged from improper references to legal proceedings from over 30 years ago, which never came to trial and about which I knew nothing, until now, and for the journalist in question should be ashamed, to attacks on the size and nature of my companies, as if I was some sort of deviant. All of this has been done to defame me, and to harm others indirectly.”
“Since then, my name has been besmirched and my web pages have been hacked by anonymous actors, who, taking advantage of the anonymity and hiding place that the internet provides, have sought successively to affirm my links with CHEGA as its backer, and to associate me with xenophobic and racist acts, when I have combated and abominated such acts throughout my life. When I am someone, who was welcomed in a foreign country, where I still live.” César DePaço then states that “Now is the time to explain to Portuguese society that I have either not been permitted to respond to all these reports, or my answers have been distorted and been conveyed to viewers and readers only partially and out of context, or in a way that gives the impression that what I have to say is not credible, as was the case with the documents and passports I produced”.
César DePaço’s press release regarding his association with the “European extreme right” states further: “My name has been mentioned in a supposed programme regarding the European extreme right, in what was an unprecedented and unscrupulous personal attack, as I have never been and would never be involved in any movement of the extreme right. I have no connection with the extreme right, and have never contributed to any type of movement. All I did was attend an event and make a donation. The attempts made to defame me on the basis of these facts amount to a crime, which I attend to denounce”.
“Moreover, the same sources query my academic qualifications, and my companies’ businesses, all on the basis of untruths, and challenge their credibility and reputation, i.e. their sales figures. They have also disseminated information about SUMMIT that neither I nor the company have been given the opportunity to rebut. They refer to the “Paço Foundation” and its governing bodies, when they are well aware that the Foundation has yet to be formed and is merely a project, and that, as such, it has neither governing bodies not staff. Nevertheless, they claim that the Foundation’s officers were members of CHEGA.”
“All because of a donation I made to a political party, which is recognised by the Constitutional Court and to which a few of my friends belong, I find myself targeted by a cabal and by a campaign of insults, which is impermissible, and can only be explained by concealed political motives related to Portugal and Cape Verde. My closest link with the party was a professional relationship with Dr. José Lourenço, whom a greatly admire and is a very able person, but who decided, for personal reasons, to embark on new professional venture about one month ago”. he writes.
“It was reported in the press that I had been dismissed by the Cape Verde Government, as if this amounted to some sort of sanction, even after I produced a document, which proves that I submitted my resignation to the Cape Verde government, which accepted it”.
“I am a Portuguese citizen, who lives in the United States, but who has invested and contributed to Portuguese charitable organisations like few others have. I have never abandoned my country, or my citizenship. However, the campaign of defamation and intrigue created by the media, in order to defame me, has reached a level that I cannot allow to continue” he says.
“I have therefore instructed my lawyer to file a criminal complaint against both the media (SIC and Revista Sábado), and the journalists, who have conducted this ad hominem persecution (Pedro Coelho and Alexandre Malhado), in violation of all rules and rights). I have also commenced legal proceedings to defend all my personal rights both in Portugal, and the USA, in the certainty that I will obtain judgments against all those involved, for the loss and damage caused to me, my family and my companies. I cannot permit this public defamation and denigration, for no reason, to continue”, he writes.
The press release continues that: “A criminal complaint against Wikipedia, and the anonymous Wikipedia editors, who, for some unknown reason, continue to spout confabulations and inventions that denigrate and defame me”, and adds that: “I also intend to file a complaint with the Press and Media Authority”.
“Portugal is going through times that I never thought I would witness. Helping Portuguese institutions. Helping Portuguese people in the USA. The help given to an entire community, is being repaid by this defamation and calumny, for obscure reasons, and in an attempt to deceive people with lies and falsehoods. Someone, who is not part of the system, is being persecuted in this way. On the basis of insinuations and half-truths. Besmirching an entire life built with work, dedication, and merit. I have commenced legal proceedings in order to reinstate the truth. Because I have had enough.” End of the press release.