Investigation into crimes of torture, rape, grevious bodily harm and abuse of power at Lisbon’s Rato police station have already led to the detention in preventive custody of nine PSP agents. But the process could extend to around 70 colleagues from different stations, among them a station chief, writes Correio da Manhã today.
These 70 or so colleagues were in Whatsapp and Telegram groups (on mobile phones) to which the nine principal suspects (currently held in Évora prison) uploaded videos of their crimes. “They did nothing to stop the acts”, explains CM, conceding there could be even more than 70 police officers involved.
The paper says the investigation is still ongoing and “trying to understand what each police agent did after seeing videos that confirmed attacks on homeless people, drug addicts and foreigners”.
According to the penal code, “it is obligatory to report crimes to police authorities” when it becomes clear that they are taking place. Thus, in not doing this, the police who saw the videos could be guilty of crimes of omission of help and complicity with an illegal act.
This case, which involves extreme violence – and, many would say, sadism – is causing major controversy within the PSP police force.
Luís Neves, the new minister for internal administration (himself a former national director of the PJ police), has made a point of insisting that the force is made up of excellent officers who, in this case, have simply been let down by ‘bad apples’. But to have so many other agents potentially involved is not helping from the point of view of ‘prestige of the institution’, nor very possibly internal morale.
The nine agents awaiting trial behind bars have all been named by CM. They are aged between 20 and 30, and described as coming from “various points in the country”.
Source: Correio da Manhã
