Dear Colleagues,

I wish to inform you of the substance of the criminal procedure submitted against me which motivates the request for lifting of my parliamentary immunity, as announced by the President of the Parliament yesterday and which will be, as normal, considered by JURI.

In late 2013 I filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor in Portugal concerning the dismantling of the Viana do Castelo Shipyards (ENVC), which led to the layoff of over six hundred workers. Later, it was announced that my complaint, and others', had given rise to a full judicial inquiry over the re-privatisation/sub-concession of the ENVC to a company called WestSea/Martifer, which is still ongoing. I also lodged complaints on this issue with the European Commission.

Shortly after, in 2014, I was subject to a defamation action by the former Minister of Defence, Mr. Aguiar Branco, due to comments I made in a television interview, in which I said there was a need to look into possible "deals" between the law firm where the former Minister was a partner, and Martifer.

At the time, the Parliament, under the JURI report from MEP Heidi Hautala, decided not to lift my immunity since it considered that my criticism of the Portuguese Government's decision not only concerned matters of genuine public interest - the privatisation of important naval shipyards - but was also directly and obviously connected with the performance of my duties as a Member of the European Parliament.

In April 2016, the Portuguese Attorney General published a press release announcing searches in several shipyards in Portugal for suspicions of crimes of mismanagement, corruption and economic participation in business related to the sub concession of the ENVC shipyards to the company Martifer and the sale of the Atlântida ferryboat, which had been built by those shipyards and had been sold to the Douro Azul Group - the Group that is now suing me.

The Atlântida ferryboat was ordered by the Azores regional government to the ENVC, but was eventually rejected in April 2009 for failing to meet the contractual speed requirements. The value of the ship was estimated at 50 million EUR. The administration of ENVC already about to be privatised via the sub concession to Martifer, launched then an international public tender to sell the ferryboat, and awarded the contract initially to a Greek company, Thesarco Shipping, which failed to pay the 13 million EUR it had agreed for the purchase of the ferryboat. In July 2014, Mystic Cruises/Douro Azul, the company which was second placed in the international tender, was then awarded the contract, agreeing to pay 8.7 million EUR for the ferryboat. Just three months later, the company announced its intention to resell the ferry. Five months later, the deal was consummated for 17 million EUR, roughly double of what it had cost. The ferry was sold to the Norwegian company Hurtigruten. This article in English from newspaper Expresso tells the whole story. The same newspaper published a few weeks ago that the sale of the ship was made through a shell company established in Malta by the owner of Douro Azul Group.

After the press release on the searches by the Attorney General, I was contacted by newspaper Diário de Notícias, and I commented that the investigation was a sign " that something is stirring in a flagrant case of corruption," involving the sub concession of ENVC and involving the sale of the Atlântida ferry for "peanuts" to the Douro Azul Group, which "has much to tell" to the authorities. These declarations triggered a criminal complaint for defamation against me by the Douro Azul Group owner, which, in turn, led to this request for the lifting of my parliamentary immunity.

I will obviously accept the recommendation to be issued by JURI, where I look forward to present my point of view about the attempt to intimidate me from carrying own my civic duty and my duty as a Member of this Parliament, keen to fight corruption in my own country and in the EU.

Best regards
Ana Gomes