The Central Civil Court of Funchal, located in the Edifício 2000, has dismissed a legal action brought by the Atalaia Living Care Association against Medialivre, owner of Correio da Manhã, journalist Egídio Carreira, and three former managers of the institution: Pedro Cipriano, Cristina Pontes, and Joaquim Sousa Lino.
All five defendants were cleared of the claims against them. The ruling, signed by Judge Alexandre Azadinho, concluded that newspaper reports published in April 2024 did not accuse the association of any unlawful conduct and that no specific damage to its image or reputation had been proven.
The case stemmed from an article published in the April 15, 2024, edition of Correio da Manhã, under the front-page headline: “Friend pays salary to president’s daughter and receives millions from the Government.” The report, written by Egídio Carreira, stated that Miguel Albuquerque’s daughter was receiving €1,467 per month from a company controlled by businessman Tony Saramago, founder of Atalaia Living Care, a private social solidarity institution that had received millions of euros from the Regional Government. The article also claimed that Sara Albuquerque had never attended the institution’s premises or provided any services to it.
