The MP asks to condemn the accused “Hell’s Angels” for terms of 15 to 17 years in prison

The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) requested effective prison sentences this Thursday for all defendants in the Hells Angels case, with sentences ranging from 15 to 17 years, a source connected to the trial told Lusa.

According to the same source, who was present on the third day of the final debate in the trial of 89 defendants in the Hell’s Angels case, the deputy defended that the punishment should be at least 17 years for the leaders of the “biker” organization and 15 years for the rest.

The prosecutor’s office confirmed the practice of committing the crimes contained in the indictment and indictment – including a criminal gang, a crime against physical integrity, extortion, drug trafficking, theft and possession of weapons and ammunition – and defended an increase in the number of crimes from four to eight. crimes of attempted murder charged to members of this group.

The charge includes a 2018 attack by the Hells Angels at the Mesa do Prior restaurant in Prior Velho as part of the pursuit of Mario Machado, a former leader of the far-right Nova Ordem Social and a member of the Bandidos rival biker group.

Also at this Thursday’s meeting, José Manuel Castro, Mario Machado’s lawyer, and other aides in the process supported the allegations made by the MP, highlighting the “rare nature of the violence of this type of attack on organized crime in Portugal and which involves a large number of employees”, thereby demanding the conviction of all the defendants, with the exception of two of them – Francisco Gouveia and António Cirilo – who have already voluntarily paid their part related to the civil compensation claim of the assistants / offended.

Already at the first session of the final arguments on Tuesday, prosecutor Paula Santos defended that, in fact, the facts contained in the accusation / pronunciation are “demonstrated”, namely the crime of the criminal community, the criminal limits of which are high.

At the time, the prosecutor detailed the “vertical structure” of the Hells Angels and the “rules they must obey”, pointing to WhatsApp messages and wiretapping found on defendants’ mobile phones as exposing the group’s activities and intentions, which, according to the prosecution, belongs to the international organization Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

At this meeting, Melo Alves, counsel for the five defendants – two foreigners and three Portuguese – filed two petitions with the court, in the first of which he asked to invalidate the evidence presented during the trial by accomplices and informers, and in the second – with reference to several nullities in investigations related to wiretapping, forensics and a surveillance camera installed by the judicial police in a vehicle directed to the door of the Prior Velho restaurant where the incidents occurred.

Melo Alves argued that the security camera that captured the images could only have been installed with the consent of the investigating judge, which he believes did not happen.

After hearing an MP who denied such vices and inconsistencies, a panel of judges presided over by Sara Pina Cabral then dismissed the defense’s motions, reasoning that there was “no violation”, reiterating that the court had already ruled on the “substantiality” of such matters.

According to the indictment, the defendants and members of Hell Angeles devised a plan to destroy the rival Bandidos in March 2018, using physical force and various weapons to inflict serious injury, “if necessary, to death.”

The case was investigated by the Judicial Police (SP), and during the briefing phase, the process was led by Judge Carlos Alexandre, who decided to bring all the accused to trial.