Enhver retsstats mest elementære bestemmelser om anklagedes rettigheder blev krænket for disse journalisters vedkommende, bl.a. fordi advokaten Rafael Marques ikke måtte være til stede under domsafsigelsen, og fordi de ikke måtte fremlægge bevis for deres påstande med den begrundelse, at det drejede sig om præsidentens person.
As defendants, their rights to a defence, which are fundamental in any rule of law, were violated, particularly by the absence during the trial of Rafael Marques' lawyer and by them not being permitted to prove the veracity of the facts as the judge argued that the case concerned the figure of the President of the Republic.