Macau Lawyers Association (AAM) President Jorge Neto Valente told reporters yesterday that he “regrets” the Judicial Council’s statement on Monday about him, claiming that the general public were not “stupid” and “people [could] see” that what Court of Final Appeal (TUI) President Sam Hou Fai said last month was “not allowed by law”.
Neto Valente made the remarks on the sidelines of yesterday’s Bank of China (BOC) and Banco Nacional Ultramarino’s (BNU) “banknote agency contract exchange ceremony” at the of Bank of China’s (Macau) headquarters.
On Monday, the Judicial Council, which oversees the management and discipline of judges, public prosecutors and judicial support staff accused Valente of harming the image of Sam and all the personnel of the Judiciary.
The council said in a strongly-worded statement that Neto Valente’s recent remarks that accused Sam of having violated the Statutes of Judges and Public Prosecutors in his speech at last month’s ceremony that marked the opening of the 2020-2021 judicial year were “deliberately misconstrued” by “untruthfully interpreting and wrongly defining” the contents of Sam’s speech.
When asked about his thoughts on the matter, Neto Valente said he “totally disagree[s] with the statement” and maintained that “the person who needs to be supervised is the supervisor”. Neto Valente also said that “this is a very bad example” made by the president of the Court of Final Appeal, adding that he himself “trust[s] the court” and that “other judges won’t be affected by this negative example”
Neto Valente said that “people are not stupid”, adding that he got “a lot” of support without asking for it. He stressed that it was “not him that affected the prestige of the court” and “[civil] society will see”.
According to a BOC statement provided during the event, the government signed a new banknote issuing agreement with the two banks in October. The statement said that the agreement reflected the recognition and affirmation of the government and the general public about the Bank of China’s banknote issuance work.
BNU is fully owned by Portugal’s state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD).
Macau Lawyers Association (AAM) President Jorge Neto Valente talks to reporters on the sidelines of the Bank of China (Macau) (BOC) and Banco Nacional Ultramarino’s (BNU) “banknote agency contract exchange ceremony” at the BOC local headquarters yesterday. Photo: Prisca Tang
