President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Declines to Address Inquiry on Luso-Brazilian Twins Case, Citing Lack of New Evidence

President's Decision on Inquiry

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced on Thursday that he will not comment on the inquiry regarding the case of the luso-Brazilian twins suffering from spinal muscular atrophy. The President stated that no new information has emerged that relates to his possible intervention in the matter.

"I made my consideration and given the fact that there are no new factual data regarding any intervention by the President of the Republic, I understood that there is no matter for me to comment on," said Rebelo de Sousa to journalists from Culturgest in Lisbon.

The President insisted he would not speak further due to the lack of material to comment on. He added, "I have waited this entire time, a year and a half, for new facts that might relate to the President's intervention. None have appeared until now."

Inquiry Context

Rebelo de Sousa mentioned that all witness testimonies in the Assembly of the Republic regarding the inquiry have concluded. He also noted that he has been following the information shared in the media about the case.

• "My decision is made: I will not comment due to the lack of material to address," he emphasized.

However, he indicated that he would send a response to the President of the Assembly of the Republic as a matter of courtesy. The inquiry concerns the treatment of the twins at Hospital Santa Maria with the drug Zolgensma.

Upcoming Council Meeting

In his statement, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also revealed plans to convene a meeting of the Council of State on security matters following the release of the Annual Internal Security Report.

• "I learned today that the Internal Security Report will be disclosed and submitted to the Assembly of the Republic by the end of March, containing important, definitive data on security matters," he said.

• "I will wait until the end of March to consider the definitive data and ponder the best date to convene a Council of State," he added.