Valongo mayors Paulo Esteves Ferreira and José Manuel Ribeiro convicted of abuse of power

The Valongo court convicted the current mayor, Paulo Esteves Ferreira, and his predecessor, José Manuel Ribeiro, of abuse of power with loss of office. Both were elected for the PS. The court sentenced each of them to 100 days of fines at 30 euros a day and ordered them to pay 61,000 euros jointly. Reading the verdict in the early afternoon of 22 October, the court found the facts in the indictment proven. The two men said they were shocked and will appeal to higher courts.

According to the prosecution, in 2020 the pair ordered a ban on trucks using the EM606 municipal road that leads to the Sobrado landfill, which it says was meant to force the site's closure. Paulo Esteves Ferreira was vice-president of the council at that time. The companies that run the landfill, Retria and Recivalongo, put their losses at more than 1.5 million euros over the three months the restriction was in force. The PS Porto district said in a statement that it reaffirmed its support for both men. It argued the case cannot be separated from the long conflict over the landfill and residents' concerns about its impact, and said the mayors' actions should be understood in light of those concerns.