A source at the Lisbon appeal court (TRL) told Lusa News Agency that the court’s decision that he be released “was communicated immediately to the parole board (TEP) and the prison itself.
Initially Cruz’s lawyer, Ricardo Sá Fernandes, had told Lusa that his client could only be released when the TRL court order arrived at the TEP, which would then issue the order for his release.
Cruz has served two thirds of his six-year prison sentence. He recently won his appeal against a decision by the parole board that had in March rejected his request that he be released on parole.
Cruz has already been able to leave prison on two occasions, in December last year for Christmas and in March last year, for his birthday.