Remanded in custody; shows “total indifference” over alleged crimes
A 17-year-old Portuguese youth arrested by PJ police last week is believed to be the “online mentor” of a group of “Nazi apologists”, inciting ‘followers’ to commit heinous acts, including murder, self mutilation and torture, particularly of animals.
The young man is, so far, the only member of the group – believed to have been behind a number of violent attacks on schools in Brazil – to have operated out of Portugal . In one incident allegedly orchestrated by him, a 17 year old girl was killed.
The investigation in Portugal began “very recently”, says the PJ in a statement, “as a matter of urgency, given the seriousness of the suspicions. It aimed to learn about and identify the online activity carried out by the detainee who promoted Nazism and incited extremist behaviour”.
According to the PJ, the teen “created and manages a group on the Discord platform, which has already been duly identified, where different people who support the same ideals and who intended to commit acts similar to those idealised and propagated by him were grouped together”.
The acts include “serious self-mutilation of young people, mutilation and killing of animals, spreading extremist Nazi propaganda, instigating and carrying out the ‘mission’ of committing massacres in schools (filmed and transmitted via mobile phone) and also sharing and selling child pornography”.
The Portuguese criminal investigative force “has established that this type of behaviour was shared in the group, including live broadcasts of attacks on animals that lead to their mutilation and death; young people drinking detergent and mutilating themselves with sharp objects.
“Through a particularly violent and extremist ideology, the young man arrested gave advice on the modus operandi and clothing to be worn by other participants when preparing and committing the crimes”, the police statement continues.
House searches (of the homes the youngster frequented, due to having parents living apart) yielded “a vast body of evidence, including computer and digital material.
“The investigation will continue, with one of the main lines of inquiry being to identify, in international terms, other criminals who may be involved in this network and this type of behaviour”.
In the meantime, the 17-year-old – “strongly suspected of the practice of crimes of aggravated murder, offenses to physical integrity, discrimination and incitement of hatred and violence”, as well as the practice of crimes of child pornography -is being kept in preventive custody. It is an outcome both his lawyer and mother are reportedly unhappy about.
According to SIC Notícias, the decision follows the interrogating judge saying the youth showed “total indifference and contempt over the crimes he is alleged to have committed: Convincing young people to carry out school massacres in Brazil; convincing them to record everything on their mobile phones and then share it online; inciting young people into self-mutilation, and to mutilate and kill animals” – as well as sharing images of child pornography.
In the eyes of the judge, the young man has “criminal energy” and is the generator of “strong social alarm”.
He is being held in a correctional facility in Leiria, being too young for conventional jail.
