Two computer experts working on the Citius computer system that failed to launch on September 1st had been under investigation by the Judicial Police cybercrime unit for 'acts of sabotage' claimed by the Justice Minister, but now the investigation is into the lesser charge of 'concealing information' - information that they were willing to hand over but instead were asked to clear their desks.
The dramatic 'sabotage' claims were designed to create a legitimate reson for Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz's failure to launch the Citius computer project on time, in fact it was six weeks late in starting and caused the country's court system to grind to a halt.
The lesser charge of 'concealing information' may come back to bite da Cruz in her gowns as she continues to ignore calls for her resignation over the Citius computer fiasco that saw the country's court system stop as it waited for the new software to splutter into life.
The Attorney General's Office was investigating claims by the Minister over a an act of sabotage at the Citius IT platform but the two being questioned were the very technicians that were fired and whose offer of a pre-exit handover period were ignored.
The report submitted by Paula Teixeira da Cruz to the Attorney General's Office claimed the system had been sabotaged by the two computer technicians who had worked on software development for two years within the Institute of Integrated Financial Management and Equipment of Justice (IGFEJ).
Now the cybercrime department of the Judicial Police are investigating the two suspects to see if they concealed key access information from management and from those responsible for managing the information systems that magistrates and lawyers should have been able to use.
The experts claim that they had offered to organise a hand over period to explain the workings of the system and divulge key operting and access codes but this was not taken up by management.
A source from within the Justice Ministry revealed that the police had been looking at activities in the seven days preceding the launch of the computerisation of the judicial system, a launch that failed to take off leading to chaos and recrimination, but concluded that the fired experts had not sabotaged the system but had offered to hand over technical know how and access codes but were asked to clear their desks and leave rather than explain what they had been doing for two years.
Six weeks later the Minister announced that everything was now working which, apart from in a few isolated courts, is now closer to the truth than she has managed to date and it is hoped that sufficient resources now will be allocated to the inputting of the backlog of data to enable the judicial system to become one of deft efficiency and speed.
Teixeira da Cruz has misled parliamant and the public throughout the launch period, did not have a grasp on events and progress and seems to be as keen as ever to blame everyone but herself. Cries of 'sabotage' will not help her image or her career opportunities.
Even the Prime Minister was obliged to apologise on his Minister's behalf as she continues to belive her own utterances and political immortality.
