Seven GNR soldiers who are on trial for 32 crimes against immigrants in the municipality of Odemira, such as kidnapping, abuse of power or aggression, learned on Tuesday the decision of the Bej court.
The hearing at which the decision of the panel of judges who considered the case will be read out is scheduled for 2:00 pm in the court of Beja, a source in the court confirmed to Lusa news agency.
The trial began on November 30 last year, and on December 19 two more sessions were held, the last of which was devoted to final arguments.
The defendants in the case are GNR soldiers Rubén Candeias, Nelson Lima, Diogo Ribeiro, Nuno Andrade, Joao López, Carlos Figueiredo and Paulo Cunha.
These are crimes related to violation of physical integrity and violation of qualified physical integrity, abuse of power and kidnapping.
In the final charges, the Prosecutor’s Office (OP) supported the conviction of seven defendants with sentences of more than three years’ imprisonment and the imposition of additional punishments prohibiting the performance of functions.
In addition, the deputy recalled that the three defendants are “repeaters”, that is, they arrived at this process already tried in a similar case concerning immigrants and in the performance of their duties as GNR fighters (in that previous case they were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment with a delay performance).
According to the prosecutor, the seven defendants “did not fulfill any of the duties” of the charter of the armed forces of the PPR and “only and only” chose immigrants from Hindustan as victims of the abuses they announce, because they are “easy and defenseless prey.”
Seven lawyers, one for each defendant, asked for their clients’ acquittal, although some argued that if convicted, the execution should be suspended.
According to the deputy’s indictment, the process includes four cases of abduction and aggression against immigrants by NPR soldiers, who were then placed in the territorial post of Vila Nova de Milfontes in Odemira (Beja), which occurred between September 2018 and March 2019 .
Rubén Candeias, João López and Nelson Lima are three defendants already convicted in a previous case in July 2020 that became final in the case of attacks on immigrants in Odemir.
This new process began when the judicial police confiscated the mobile phones of five soldiers suspected of immigrant abuse and discovered videos and images of immigrants allegedly being attacked, humiliated and tortured.
The lawyer for Rubén Candeias, a defendant who was prosecuted for 10 other crimes (five for violation of bodily integrity, four for abuse of power and one for kidnapping), in the final charges, among other arguments, insisted on the nullity of the evidence regarding your client.
Most of the lawyers argued that, without witness testimony, the video recordings did not allow proving the facts imputed to the defendant.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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