José Alberto Azeredo Lopes

Portuguese politician

José Alberto de Azeredo Lopes


Minister of National Defence
In office 26 November 2015^[1] – 15 October 2018
Prime Minister	António Costa
Preceded by	José Pedro Aguiar-Branco^[2]
Succeeded by	João Gomes Cravinho

Personal details
Born	20 June 1961 Porto, Portugal^[1]

José Alberto de Azeredo Lopes (born 20 June 1961)^[3] is a Portuguese politician who served as Minister of National Defence from November 2015^[1] to October 2018.

Azeredo Lopes previously served as the president of the Regulatory Authority for the Media and was a law professor at the Catholic University of Portugal.^[4] He announced his resignation as National Defence Minister on 12 October 2018 amid an investigation into a theft of weapons from a military base,^[3] and was succeeded by João Gomes Cravinho on 15 October 2018.^[5] In 2019, he was brought to trial over his alleged role in a suspected army cover-up of a theft of grenades, anti-tank rockets, other explosives and ammunition from a military arms depot in 2017; he himself has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "José Alberto de Azeredo Lopes". portugal.gov.pt (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ Marques, Christopher (24 November 2015). "António Costa indigitado: a lista dos novos ministros de Portugal" (in Portuguese). Radio and Television of Portugal. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Azeredo Lopes, um ministro com uma passagem atribulada pelo Governo". Visão (in Portuguese). 12 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
^ "José Alberto de Azeredo Lopes". portugal.gov.pt. Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
^ José Almeida, São (14 October 2018). "Uma remodelação com peso político". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 15 October 2018.
^ Catarina Demony (September 26, 2019), Former Portuguese minister to face trial over weapons theft cover-up Reuters.

XXI Constitutional Government of Portugal (2015–2019)

Prime Minister

António Costa

Ministers

Foreign Affairs	Augusto Santos Silva (2015–2019)
Premiership and Administrative Modernisation	Maria Manuel Leitão Marques (2015–2019) Mariana Vieira da Silva (2019)
Finance	Mário Centeno (2015–2019)
National Defence	José Alberto Azeredo Lopes (2015–2018) João Gomes Cravinho (2018–2019)
Internal Administration	Constança Urbano de Sousa (2015–2017) Eduardo Cabrita (2017–2019)
Justice	Francisca Van Dunem (2015–2019)
Minister Adjunct	Eduardo Cabrita (2015–2017) Pedro Siza Vieira (2017–2019)
Culture	João Soares (2015–2016) Luís Filipe Castro Mendes (2016–2018) Graça Fonseca (2018–2019)
Science, Technology and Higher Education	Manuel Heitor (2015–2019)
Education	Tiago Brandão Rodrigues (2015–2019)
Labour, Solidarity and Social Security	José António Vieira da Silva (2015–2019)
Health	Adalberto Campos Fernandes (2015–2018) Marta Temido (2018–2019)
Planning and Infrastructure	Pedro Marques (2015–2019) Nelson de Souza (2019; as Minister of Planning) Pedro Nuno Santos (2019; as Minister of Infrastructure and Housing)
Economy	Manuel Caldeira Cabral (2015–2018) Pedro Siza Vieira (2018–2019)
Environment	João Pedro Matos Fernandes (2015–2019; from 2018 as Minister of the Environment and of Energy Transition)
Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development	Luís Capoulas Santos (2015–2019)
Sea	Ana Paula Vitorino (2015–2019)