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		</div><p><a href="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/womans-trial-suspended-in-portugal.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full" title="Serena Wylde's trial in Portugal has been suspended" src="http://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/min-womans-trial-suspended-in-portugal.jpg" alt="Serena Wylde's trial in Portugal has been suspended"/></a></p>
<p>The trial of a British woman facing up to nine months in a Portuguese jail after making a complaint against a lawyer has been suspended over questions surrounding the impartiality of the judge, a human rights charity said.</p>
<p>Businesswoman Serena Wylde, 59, from Putney, was due to face a court in the Algarve charged with aggravated criminal defamation after she wrote to the solicitors&#8217; regulatory body, Ordem dos Advogados, calling for disciplinary action against lawyer Fernando Pimenta de Almeida Borges.</p>
<p>A spokeswoman for Fair Trials International confirmed the start of the trial at the Lagos court has been suspended, saying: &#8220;This decision follows an urgent application made by Serena&#8217;s Portuguese lawyer questioning the impartiality of the trial judge. This application will now be assessed by a higher court. If successful, a different judge will hear Serena&#8217;s case.&#8221;</p>
<p>Fair Trials said Mr Pimenta de Almeida Borges had been acting for Ms Wylde&#8217;s neighbour in a dispute over a gate built on the businesswoman&#8217;s property.</p>
<p>The lawyer continued legal proceedings despite being told that an amicable solution had been reached.</p>
<p>Ms Wylde complained to the solicitors&#8217; regulatory body which then forwarded her letter to the prosecutor&#8217;s office which began criminal proceedings against her.</p>
<p>Speaking before the trial was suspended, Fair Trials chief executive Jago Russell said: &#8220;It beggars belief that Serena Wylde is facing a criminal trial and the threat of months in a foreign jail for making a confidential complaint to a regulatory body.</p>
<p>&#8220;This prosecution flies in the face of free speech and puts those in positions of power beyond reproach.&#8221;</p>
<p>Fair Trials said Mr Pimenta de Almeida Borges is the son of a former Supreme Court judge and belongs to a prominent family in Portugal.</p>
<p>According to the charity, the lawyer told the prosecutor he was &#8220;a well-to-do and cultured individual&#8221; who &#8220;exercises his profession with such honour, dignity and seriousness&#8221;.</p>
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