Latest news and stories about police misconduct in government in Portugal for expats and residents.
The Minister of Internal Administration, Luís Neves, appeared on TVI's Jornal Nacional to discuss the case of dozens of PSP officers arrested on suspicion of torturing vulnerable people.
A police officer previously implicated in torture had access to unauthorised ammunition from batches not assigned to the PSP; these rounds were untraceable to the force and could facilitate serious firearms offences. The case exposes weaknesses in ammunition control, record-keeping and oversight within the PSP, increasing public safety risks and underscoring the need for stricter inventory procedures, forensic tracing and accountability measures.
The Public Prosecutor's Office alleges that more than ten officers assaulted detainees at two Lisbon police stations and that images of alleged torture were shared among over 70 police officers. Two people have been formally identified as suspects in the alleged torture inquiry, and the prosecution's file describes ten particularly violent assaults. The allegations raise serious criminal and human-rights concerns and the investigation is ongoing.
“I thought I was going to die there,” they stated. There was only one “humane police officer” across two shifts of duty.
The director of the PSP Training Department says that one of the biggest challenges is to “make up for the shortcomings” that young people bring from their families, but admits that supervision may have failed.
The officer stated that older colleagues taught him how to give 'treatment' to certain detainees.
Just over 100 metres from the police station, a couple of minutes' walk away, lies the Capela do Rato. It could not be more symbolic of what we are: grotesque and angelic, perverse and generous. Two steps from hell, a place of atrocities and human sewage, sits a site that symbolises tolerance, knowledge, and interiority. If the walls of that station were not soundproof, one would have heard the desperate pleas of those tortured by uniformed police. Poor people, the excluded, the homeless, and drug addicts violated by broom handles and batons, humiliated and exposed in images that spread like a virus of evil. Less than 200 metres away is the chapel where Tolentino preached love, where Catholics critical of the Estado Novo prayed for the end of the dictatorship, and where Father Alberto Neto stirred the waters with words pointing toward the future. Two minutes away from bestiality, a chapel stripped of artifice so that only the Word may survive. And the silence. We know our destiny is written: one day death will arrive. The problem has never been the end, but what we do until then. What we are, what we desire for our lives. That we all die is no surprise; what truly surprises me is finding people who, while alive, never truly lived. Evil at this level has no remission and cannot be erased by repentance; it is pure poison. It is 200 metres, a little less or a little more. A two-minute distance between life and darkness.
An investigation reveals horrific cases. In one instance, officers are suspected of having raped two homeless people. One of them cried and begged them to stop, but was still forced to sing 'Happy Birthday'.
An investigation reveals horrific cases. In one instance, officers are suspected of having raped two homeless people. One of them cried and begged them to stop, but was still forced to sing 'Happy Birthday'.
Nininho Vaz Maia's brother and a colleague were suspended from duty but remain at liberty. Eight others are returning to work.
Three of the 14 police officers arrested in connection with cases of torture and abuse at the Rato PSP station in Lisbon will be placed under house arrest, while the others will be released, said lawyer Carlos Melo Alves. The coercive measures were announced this Monday at the Central Criminal Investigation Court in Lisbon.
The Public Prosecutor's Office has requested pre-trial detention for four of the 14 police officers suspected of acts of torture at the Rato and Bairro Alto stations, including a chief. It has requested house arrest for three other officers. The court's decision will be announced on Monday.
The Public Prosecutor's Office is requesting the most severe coercive measure for four of the police officers arrested for torture at the Rato station. In total, 14 officers are suspected of assault and abuse of power.
Maximum coercive measure requested for four of the suspects, reports CNN-Portugal
The coercive measures to be applied to the PSP officers arrested on suspicion of assault and torture at the Rato police station in Lisbon may be announced today. The Public Prosecutor's Office will propose the measures, and the judge's decision will be known thereafter.
CMTV commentator states that the officers involved in the torture case at the Rato police station “should never have worn the uniform.”
15 more police officers and one security guard were arrested on Tuesday in Lisbon. There are suspects charged with committing and concealing crimes.
Luís Neves also regrets the silence and the failure of the officers involved to report crimes committed at the Rato and Bairro Alto police stations in Lisbon
Luís Neves defers judgment on this case for a later time. Additionally, Ventura says he wants to hear from the Ministry of Internal Administration in parliament on May 14th.
Bruno Pereira, sub-superintendent of the PSP and president of the National Union of Police Officers, laments the incidents that led to the arrest of dozens of PSP agents, suspected of torturing homeless people and drug addicts at two police stations in Lisbon.
Bruno Pereira, president of the National Union of Police Officers, comments on the new arrests in the case involving rapes and torture at PSP police stations.
New searches are taking place, targeting all police officers currently on duty.
There are already two officers accused in this case, but the investigation continues to result in new arrests.
Three hierarchical superiors of the two accused agents, who had led street operations that ended in violence and torture inside the station, are among the two dozen witnesses. However, they claim to have seen nothing abnormal. The incriminating testimony of a single agent was fundamental to the investigation.
The Central Criminal Investigation Court today ordered the trial of two PSP officers accused in January by the Public Prosecutor's Office of torture and rape crimes against detainees at the Rato police station in Lisbon.
The Central Criminal Investigation Court has ordered two PSP officers to stand trial for crimes of torture and rape against detainees at the Rato station in Lisbon. The judge found sufficient evidence to proceed, noting a high probability of conviction. The primary defendant faces 29 charges, including torture and rape, while the second faces seven charges, including abuse of power. The investigation revealed that the officers targeted vulnerable individuals, such as drug users, homeless people, and foreign nationals, often filming the abuse and sharing it in WhatsApp groups. This case is separate from a second investigation that led to the arrest of seven additional officers in March.
The indictment is clear in its description of several crimes, many of which were filmed and photographed without any authorisation.
