‘I was never under pressure from Ho Chio Meng,’ gaming regulator says

Paulo Martins Chan

The current director of the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ), Paulo Martins Chan, has claimed during a Radio Macau interview that he “was never pressured to act in a certain way by the former Prosecutor General Ho Chio Meng.”
Chan was referring to the period of time when he worked in the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) and denied any interference from Ho in the decisions of the MP through that time.
During the interview, which aired on Saturday, Paulo Martins Chan said that he was “obviously surprised” by the former general prosecutor’s arrest. “We need to respect the judiciary system and the principle of presumption of innocence,” he said. Chan concluded that “he is forced to agree” with the decision of the Court of Final Appeal (TUI) regarding the decision not to consider Ho Chio Meng as part of the magistracy, but as a public servant.
“The magistracy of the Public Prosecution Office is a hierarchically set judiciary institution and, therefore, different from the judges, who are totally independent. We [prosecutors] can receive higher instructions to give greater attention to a particular case,” which he admitted to happening “every time that there is a case that involves important people.” However, the current DICJ head refused the idea of “interference in a special case or anything that could be considered abnormal.”
Paulo Martins Chan left his position as MP prosecutor at the end of last year to take office at the DCIJ. He expressed disagreement with opinions vented by several public figures who have recently aired concerns regarding the possibility of influence-peddling in cases at the MP.