Lisbon (AFP)
The "Football Leaks" are "a cause of pride and not of shame," said Friday at the opening of his trial in Lisbon Rui Pinto, source of these revelations which shook the world of football.
"I was outraged by what I found out and decided to make it public," the 31-year-old Portuguese said in a brief opening statement after the hearing opened.
"My job as a whistleblower is over (...) I never did anything for the money," added the young man with spiky hair, his face covered by a surgical mask, dressed in jeans and a dark blue shirt with rolled up sleeves.
The "Football Leaks", literally football leaks, have brought to light mechanisms of tax evasion, suspicions of fraud and corruption involving several star players and club managers.
In a trial that is expected to last several months, Rui Pinto faces 90 counts, including a series of computer crimes and correspondence violation.
He is also accused of attempted extortion against the investment fund Doyen Sports, which sparked the case by filing a complaint in October 2015.
In Portugal, the crime of attempted extortion is punishable by a sentence of between 2 years and 5 months and 10 years in prison.
Lawyers for the "hacker", who have described him from the start as "a great European whistleblower", will call 45 witnesses including Edward Snowden, a former US intelligence employee charged with espionage, or the former financial judge French Eva Joly.
After his extradition from Hungary, where he lived when he was arrested in January 2019, and a year spent in pre-trial detention in Portugal, Rui Pinto has decided to cooperate with the justice of his country in other cases and enjoys a protected witness status.
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