Firefighting commander José Sousa is balking at the prospect of dismissing the 11 men in his service arrested on suspicion of having sodomized a 19-year-old recruit on his first two shifts as a volunteer firefighter (‘bombeiro voluntário).
This story broke yesterday as the 11 were detained. They have since been released on the understanding that they report once a week to the police station in their area of residence.
The men are all facing charges of rape – some of them facing two such crimes, as well as the crime of sexual coercion.
Eight of them have been reportedly barred from entering Fundão fire station, where they are based and where one of the attacks took place, but they are still effectively ‘firefighters’ – and this is what is shocking many people, not least locals who have told reporters that “this kind of thing simply cannot happen in a fire station”.
The tragedy is that it appears to have happened – and the victim is the one suffering, an editorial in Correio da Manhã explains today: he has been “relieved of his duties and ostracised” for blowing the whistle on the behaviour of his ‘colleagues’.
Clearly appalled by commander Sousa’s reluctance to dismiss the 11 outright, CM gives bare details of the attacks: “They happened after the young man had realised the first two shifts of his career. He was taken to an access corridor to the dormitory and subjected to violent sexual acts.
“On one of the occasions he was raped (…) they also cut and shaved the youngster’s pubic hair, against his wishes.
“During the attack, the victim could not defend himself because while some firefighters were hurting him, others were holding him down, making it impossible for him to get away”.
CM stresses that all this was done “in a party atmosphere (…) colleagues were laughing”. Indeed, it appears that the scenes were caught on internal CCTV cameras.
But Commander Sousa, (whom CM’s reporter Tânia Laranjo says “we hope in the coming hours will be ‘former commander’) has said: “We are going to assess where there is motive for a disciplinary action. Externally the competent authorities are hearing the participants”.
Even more shocking, perhaps, is the fact that all this happened two months ago. The allegedly sodomised recruit lodged a complaint with the GNR in September. They referred it to the PJ, which is now in charge of the investigation.
As CM’s editorial considers: “The case brings shame on the country in general, and on the ‘bombeiros’ in particular”.
It was presented yesterday as a form of “initiation ritual”, raising concerns as to whether similar rituals could be taking place in other fire stations in which victims keep quiet.
Certainly, António Nunes, president of the League of Portuguese Firefighters, has condemned the scenario, saying: “This is not an acceptable situation for us firefighters. What was done was excessive. We must give them all the benefit of the doubt so that they have the opportunity to explain what happened, but in any case, we firefighters do not agree that a situation occurred that could undermine human dignity.”
UPDATE SINCE TEXT UPLOADED: Eight of the firefighters arrested yesterday have now been suspended from their duties as firefighters for the next three months. It is not explained whether they have been suspended with pay, with partial pay, or without pay. SIC Notícias adds that among the men are one of the station’s ‘chiefs’ and a ‘deputy-chief’.
Sources: CM / SIC Notícias
