Costa and other former ministers accuse Moedas of forgery

Follow our liveblog about the accident with the Glória elevator here

The current president of the European Council, António Costa, and other former ministers of António Guterres accuse the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, of having said “falsehoods” about the late former socialist leader Jorge Coelho.

"We, Jorge Coelho's colleagues in António Guterres' government at the time of the Entre-os-Rios bridge collapse, wish to express our outrage at the false claims made by engineer Carlos Moedas about what happened in 2001. Jorge Coelho's actions were an important contribution to the defense of democracy over the past 25 years," former ministers of António Guterres wrote in a note sent to the agency.

In addition to former Prime Minister António Costa, the note was signed by Alberto Martins, Augusto Santos Silva, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues , Guilherme Oliveira Martins, Luís Capoulas Santos, and Nuno Severiano Teixeira. These former ministers justify signing this note as a matter of "duty."

“Since Jorge Coelho cannot defend himself, it is our duty to defend his memory,” they emphasize.

On Sunday, during an interview with SIC about the causes of the fatal accident with the Elevador da Glória, in Lisbon, Carlos Moedas was confronted with the example of the late socialist Jorge Coelho, in 2001, who resigned from his post as Minister of Social Equipment following the collapse of the Entre-os-Rios bridge, on the Douro River.

Carlos Moedas rejected the comparison and said that Jorge Coelho's office had received information that pointed to the bridge's fragility even before the accident , while in his case, on the contrary, he had not received any signal in that sense in relation to the Elevador da Glória.

“Political responsibility is when the politician knows and does not act,” explained the Mayor of Lisbon.

The accident that occurred last Wednesday with the Glória elevator, in Lisbon, caused 16 deaths and several serious injuries.

Soon after, Carlos Moedas' statements were condemned by several socialists, including former PS leader Ferro Rodrigues.

Former PS secretary-general Ferro Rodrigues expressed his “indignant” at statements made by the Mayor of Lisbon regarding the reasons for the resignation of Minister Jorge Coelho following the collapse of the Entre-os-Rios bridge in 2001.

“As a friend and successor to Jorge Coelho in the Ministry of Social Equipment, I express my indignation at Carlos Moedas’ lies,” Ferro Rodrigues told the Lusa news agency.

According to Ferro Rodrigues, “Jorge Coelho had no information that what happened could happen” and Carlos Moedas “lied”.

“Otherwise, obviously, I would have prohibited access to the bridge in that terrible storm,” he added, before leaving a warning.

"I won't say anything else because I don't want to contribute to those who are trying to divert attention from the collapse of the Entre-os-Rios bridge, where all the investigations were conducted and published," he added.

Following the collapse of the Entre-os-Rios bridge, among other investigations, the Assembly of the Republic established a commission of inquiry, which months later produced a report approved with no votes against. The document was voted in favor by the PS, PSD, PCP, and CDS, with abstentions by PEV and the Left Bloc.

Following investigations of a technical, administrative, legal, criminal and political nature, among other episodes, the then president of the Douro Navigability Institute (IND), Mário Fernandes, resigned.

The IND was one of the entities held responsible for the collapse of the bridge, as the body that licensed and monitored sand extraction in the navigable channel of the Douro River.

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