In what must be one of the most pointless judicial complaints to get to court, the mayor of Alpiarça (Santarém) has been absolved of using the vernacular during a lapse of good manners after a “particularly difficult” council meeting.
A female judge at Almerim court has accepted that Mário Pereira told Francisco Cunha of the movement “Everyone for Alpiarça” to “f**k off in no uncertain terms.
But she said the peremptory brush-off had “no penal relevance”.
The fact that anyone might think that it did stems from Portugal’s preoccupation with “offences to honour and good name”.Crimes of this nature pepper the legal system, with some even making it to convictions (click here).
But in this case, the judge concluded that notwithstanding Pereira’s “rudeness” and “lack of education”, he had not tarnished Francisco Cunha’s standing in society.
Surprisingly, neither man is reported as satisfied.
Explains national tabloid Correio da Manhã, Pereira claims his words were taken out of context, while Cunha is still bemoaning how his rival could have been absolved after it was proved in open court that he said what he said.
