In a case involving five more defendants, the penalty imposed on businessman Chenglong Li, of Chinese nationality and holder of a 'golden' visa, is the accumulation of several partial penalties, including the one related to consummated qualified homicide. He was cleared of a money laundering charge.
In a judgment handed down at the São João Novo judicial facilities, a collective of the Central Criminal Court of Porto chaired by Maria da Conceição Nogueira, proved that the entrepreneur was the mastermind of the fires set and of the coercion of tenants who remained in the building in question. The victim associated with the second of the fires was one of the children of the tenant - who was also deceased, but after the facts on trial and due to illness.
Journalists followed the reading of the judgment through electronic means in another courtroom, to avoid risks associated with covid-19. The judgment will be translated into English and Mandarin, at the request of the defence of the businessman and his wife.