London business woman may be imprisoned in Portugal for complaining about a lawyer on the Algarve

For Immediate Release
 

Serena Wylde, a business woman from Putney, is facing a possible prison sentence in Portugal after making a complaint against a lawyer to the profession’s regulatory body. Serena is due to stand trial in the Algarve on charges of aggravated criminal defamation, which carries a sentence of over 6 months in prison.

Jago Russell, Chief Executive of Fair Trials International, said:

“This prosecution flies in the face of free speech and puts those in positions of power beyond reproach. I am horrified that Serena is being threatened with a prison sentence for making a complaint intended to protect others from a lawyer’s unscrupulous behaviour.”

Serena Wylde said:

“It is devastating to be charged with a criminal offence. In my case this happened because I told what I believe to be the truth and it has been turned against me by those who don’t want to hear it. This ordeal has made me question every reference point of my daily security, and even my own sanity.”

The charge relates to a letter Serena wrote to the solicitors’ regulatory body in Portugal, the “Ordem dos Advogados”, calling for disciplinary action to be taken against a lawyer who had been acting in a property dispute with her neighbour. Instead of investigating the matter, the body forwarded the letter to the prosecutor’s office which then began criminal proceedings against Miss Wylde for aggravated defamation. The lawyer against whom the complaint was made, Mr Pimenta de Almeida Borges, is the son of a former Supreme Court judge and belongs to a prominent family in Portugal.

Notes to Editors
 

After her parents’ death, Serena inherited a house in Praia da Luz (the Algarve) that her parents had retired to from the UK. She has close connections with Portugal, has a Portuguese husband, speaks the language and both of her parents are buried on the Algarve.

After a property dispute developed between Serena and her neighbours over the erection of a gate on Serena’s property, both sides engaged Portuguese lawyers to deal with the matter. It was not necessary to continue formal legal proceedings in Portugal as Miss Wylde and her neighbours reached an amicable solution. The neighbours’ lawyer (Mr Pimenta de Almeida Borges), however, failed to follow his client’s instructions and continued legal proceedings after he had been informed that a settlement had been reached. This caused considerable anxiety for Serena and her neighbours.

Serena decided to make a written complaint to the solicitors’ regulatory body in Portugal, the “Ordem dos Advogados”. She stated in that letter that she considered Mr de Almeida Borges to have acted in an improper and unscrupulous manner. The letter requested that his conduct be investigated by the regulatory authority.

Instead of investigating the complaint, the regulatory body sent Serena’s letter to the prosecuting authorities in Portugal. She heard nothing from the Ordem but in February 2007, two armed police officers arrived at her home in Praia da Luz and told her to report to the office of the security police.

Serena has been charged with aggravated criminal defamation under Article 180-1 and 184 of the Portuguese Criminal Code. This provides for more severe sentences where the defamation is against certain public officials or lawyers. If convicted, she could face a prison sentence of up to nine months imprisonment.

Mr Pimenta de Almeida Borges is the son of former Supreme Court judge and from an established Portuguese family. He has written to the prosecutor in support of the prosecution of Miss Wylde and to seek €50,000 in damages from her. In his correspondence with the prosecutor he describes himself as “a well to do and cultured individual”, referring to “the family from which he descends and to which he belongs” and his “uninterrupted advocacy in the town of Lagos for 28 years.” In light of this he claims:

“It’s difficult to fix a sum to indemnify the offence suffered by one who exercises his profession with such honour, dignitiy and seriousness... Some would say that one’s honour has no price... [I consider] adequate to restore the damage suffered by the actions of [Miss Wylde] the payment of a 50,000 Euro indemnity.”

An opinion from the civil rights solicitors, Hickman and Rose, says that Ms Wylde’s rights under Article 10 of the European Convention, guaranteeing freedom of expression, and Article 6, the right to a fair trial, have both been breached and if she were to be convicted, she would have good grounds for taking the case to Strasbourg.