Convicted of ill-treatment in Lar do Comercio in Matosinhos, today received a decision

The former president of the board and the former director of the Lar do Comércio service learned on Tuesday of the decision in the case in which they are accused of ill-treatment and in which prosecutors asked for an effective and “exemplary” prison sentence. . .

The two defendants and the Institute for Social Solidarity (IPSS), based in Matosinhos, Porto district, were charged with 67 crimes of ill-treatment, 17 of which were aggravated by death, but in January, in the latest arguments, the Prosecutor’s Office (MP) excluded 49 crimes, in including 17 with aggravating circumstances resulting in death, finding that there was no “causal connection” in these 17 crimes.

The deputy decided to prove 18 crimes, asking the group of judges presiding over the trial for “an exemplary and effective punishment.”

Emphasizing the particular vulnerability and dependence of older people, the deputy believes that in this case “there was a lack of humanity,” concluding that “from there they only went to the cemetery. That was the end of the road.”

The Matosinhos Criminal Court sentenced (decided to try) the former president of the board, the former director of services and the IPSS itself in April 2022.

In the indictment, the deputy alleges that between January 2015 and February 2020, the defendants “violated the duties inherent in the positions they held” and acted with the knowledge that their behavior would lead to inadequate provision of health, hygiene, and nutrition. , attention, affection, entertainment and socialization” of bedridden residents.

It further alleges that defendants, “despite knowing that the facility had the economic power to do so in order to reduce and contain costs,” failed to hire the necessary physicians, staff and nurses “to ensure the comfort and minimum care of users.” , and it is also impossible to purchase equipment, furniture and hygiene and medical supplies, such as dressings for bedsores, anti-bedsore mattresses, diapers and protein supplements.

However, according to the indictment filed on July 27, 2021, the defendants “also acted with the knowledge that failure to assist users could result in their death, as happened to the 17 users hospitalized there.”

In February 2023, at the first court hearing, the defendants remained silent.

In the closing arguments, almost a year later, Thiago Rodríguez Bastos, lawyer of former President José Moura and former director Marta Soares, asked the court to acquit the two accused, stressing that the conclusions of the medico-legal examination did not jeopardize the health of users at risk or identified complaints or evidence of abuse.

While expressing respect for the deputy who asked for the defendants to be sentenced to an effective prison sentence, the lawyer, who did not want to understand the facts contained in the indictment, said that even if there is “this or that situation that did not go so well” or that did not happen. If the standards set by law regarding the number of nurses were met, this would not result in illegality, and even if it did, it could not be considered ill-treatment.

At that time, lawyer Nuno Pimenta, representing the institution, also asked the court to acquit the institution, considering that the charge as it stands is untrue in light of the evidence presented. He questioned the responsibility of other members of the home who are not charged in the case, and also recalled that the latest Social Security report showed that “there is something wrong in the institution,” a fact that must also be assessed by the court.

The announcement of the decision is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. at the Matosinhos court.