Rui Pinto to stay in witness protection after Portuguese authorities reverse decision
Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto will remain under witness protection after Portugal suspended a decision to end it, as he challenges the grounds for termination.
Portuguese hacker Rui Pinto, founder of Football Leaks, will remain in witness protection after Portugal's Ministry of Justice suspended a planned termination of his status. The decision, announced on Friday, came just before Pinto was due to leave the programme on Saturday.
Pinto, 37, leaked confidential documents, including emails and financial records, that were shared with German magazine Der Spiegel in 2018. These publications contributed to the Premier League investigation into Manchester City. City were recently found guilty of breaching the league's financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons and have appealed.
Pinto entered witness protection in 2020 after cooperating with authorities. His removal was initially upheld, but the Ministry of Justice said the special security programmes commission had not properly notified Pinto of its grounds or allowed him to challenge the decision. He now has 10 days to review a risk assessment indicating a low threat to his safety.
On X, Pinto thanked Portugal's Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcao Judice, and called the commission's initial decision a clear violation of law and a manifest abuse of power. He had previously described the move as life-threatening.
Pinto considers himself a whistleblower, but was convicted in Portugal of illegal data access and attempted extortion, receiving a four-year suspended sentence. He wore a bulletproof vest at his first trial in 2020 under heightened security. Earlier this year, he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts of Portuguese sports bodies, including Benfica.
