“Because this case was not resolved before the deadline of five years, the judge was obliged under Saudi law to free him," Rui Costa Pereira told Lusa, adding that “he should already have been freed”.

Almeida, who was imprisoned on 26 June 2012, was freed in part “because someone came forward that he knew who put himself in the position to assure during the case, which is still pending, that Hélder will present himself whenever he's called by the court," Pereira said, adding that his client must remain in Saudi Arabia until the case is dealt with.

He had, the lawyer added, told him that he expects that the case will be dealt with definitively in the next few months "and that he can return to Portugal.”

In a message sent to Lusa in June, Almeida explained that he was detained because of “cheques that bounced” from the company where he worked as managing director, and whose shareholders were a Portuguese national and a Saudi prince, Saud Bin Faisal Meshaal Bin Saul Al Saud. In fact, he said, the cheques were to serve as guarantees and had future dates on them, since they were only supposed to be cashed after the maturity date.

However, according to Almeida, “according to Saudi law, the maturity date has no importance; only the signature and the amount matter, so the cheque can be cashed at any moment.”

The matter of the cheques was resolved in his favour, he said, making his detention illegal, but the Saudi state justified it on the basis of there being an outstanding debt equivalent to some €2.4 million, despite neither he nor the company's shareholders ever having been officially notified to pay the debt.