PSP agent responsible for shooting still not returned to active duty
Portugal’s PJ judicial police – the country’s main criminal investigation force – has concluded its probe into the death of Odair Moniz, the Cape Verdean chef shot dead by a young police agent in October, in an incident that sparked a wave of violent unrest throughout Lisbon.
The investigation, as a source from the PJ’s national directorate acknowledges, took around two months and was concluded in December, when it was sent to the Public Prosecution Service.
It goes without saying that the longer it takes to draw conclusions, the more time separates the violent emotions provoked by the incident which was ‘muddled’ from the outset.
PSP police actually issued a statement that did not gel with that of the police agents involved, and thus the sense of outrage within communities more habitually ‘at loggerheads’ with security forces.
For now, the agent who fired the shots has been charged with what Lusa describes as “the offence of simple murder”.
He has not returned to work, and there is no date for him to resume his duties, according to his lawyer.
In addition to the PJ’s investigation, the PSP also opened an internal inquiry and IGAI – the Inspectorate-General for Internal Administration – is conducting a disciplinary inquiry.
According to Lusa, the PSP officer is to be questioned by IGAI inspectors in a week’s time, on January 10. He was heard by public prosecutors overseeing the case at the beginning of December, but chose to remain silent.
According to official information released by the PSP’s National Directorate, Odair Moniz fled when he was approached by the officers in the early hours of October 21, “resisted arrest and tried to assault them with a bladed weapon.”
This was not confirmed by the agents involved, however – and there has even been the suggestion that the knife was ‘planted’ after the fatal shots were fired. ND
Source material: LUSA
