One of the three SEF inspectors convicted for the death of Igor Gomenyuk was dismissed from government service

One of the three SEF inspectors convicted in the case of the death of a Ukrainian citizen in the premises of the now defunct Service for Foreigners and Border Guards at the airport has been dismissed from public service according to the order of the Minister of Internal Affairs.

The application of the penalty of disciplinary dismissal to Luis Silva, sentenced to nine years in prison, was proposed by the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAI) in an order dated October 9 and approved by José Luis Carneiro.

“Taking into account the report of the process trainer and the proposal of the IGAI Inspector General, with which I agree in fact and in law, I decide to impose the penalty of disciplinary dismissal on SEF Inspector and Inspection Personnel Luis Silva for violation of the duties entrusted to him,” – says the minister in order to accept the resignation.

Information published on the IGAI website states that the conduct of the former SEF inspector was “a violation of the duties of public interest, correction and zeal, as they not only failed to respect the laws, rights and legally protected interests of citizens, as was the practice in the performance of his duties, and also constitutes a serious violation of the dignity of the injured citizen.”

“Performing functions in the security service, the nature and mission of which are based, in addition, on ensuring internal security and individual rights and freedoms in the global context of the migration reality, a mission that the target employee has not fulfilled by his behavior and is grossly not respected, its continuity and the maintenance of public communication becomes impossible,” IGAI further states.

In this case, which began in March 2020, the former director of the SEF border service, António Sergio Henriques, was also dismissed and will still be tried, a sentence that was also proposed by the IGAI and accepted by the Ministry of Internal Administration.

Luis Silva, along with missing SEF inspectors Duarte Laja and Bruno Souza, reported to Évora prison in August to serve the nearly six years he had left after being under house arrest since 2020.

According to the MP’s charges in the first case, Igor Gomenyuk died of slow suffocation after attacks with legs and sticks carried out by investigators, as a result of which the Ukrainian citizen broke eight ribs. They also left him handcuffed with his hands behind his back, face down, with difficulty breathing for a long time, resulting in cardiopulmonary arrest.