Compulsory military service: Nuno Melo’s “academic” hypothesis covers only 136 young people

The hypothesis put forward by National Defense Minister Nuno Melo to establish compulsory military service as an alternative punishment for young people convicted of petty crimes would only cover 136 young people, the newspaper reported. To express.

According to the latest quarterly report of the General Directorate of Reintegration and Prison Services, at the end of March, 136 young people were serving a preventive measure in an educational center and only 22 were adults.

The minister expressed this hypothesis on April 26 at the European University of the Democratic Alliance in the Curia. “How many of these young men who, instead of being institutionalized without any conditions, had the opportunity to perform military service, had the opportunity to exercise learning, authority, values, were not able to go on to become much better citizens, and were simply not given that opportunity? ” he asked.

The government has denied reports of recruiting young offenders. “The reflections carried out as part of Universidade Europa with the participation of young people from AD highlighted the strengths and potential of the Armed Forces, illustrated by academic examples,” the executive director explained in a statement on Tuesday.

On Thursday, on the sidelines of a visit to Ovibeja, Nuno Melo confirmed this position. “I lived for 24 hours in a parallel reality where lies created news and then commented on this news within 24 hours, the minister was faced with something that I never proposed, the President of the Republic was faced with something that I never announced,” said He.

On Thursday, Parliament’s National Defense Committee unanimously approved two requests from Chegi and IL for an urgent hearing with a government official on the matter.