The widow of Ukrainian citizen Igor Homeniuk, who was killed at SEF facilities at the Lisbon airport in March 2020, is demanding global compensation in the amount of 700 thousand euros as part of a new criminal case against the former director of the Border Guard Service, inspectors and security guards.
In an interview with Lusa, the lawyer said that “compensation in this case will be given to the Solidarity Institute to support child victims of the war.” In the first case related to the death of Igor Homeniuk, in which three inspectors of the Service for Foreigners and Borders (INS) were convicted, the widow of a citizen of Ukraine received compensation from the state in the amount of about 800 thousand euros.
According to a civil compensation suit filed by lawyer José Gaspar Schwalbach, Oksana Homeniuk is seeking 200,000 euros from the security company Prestibel, another 200,000 euros from former Borders director António Sergio Enrique, and 100,000 euros from each of the accused inspectors – Maria Vieira and Joao. Agostinho – and, finally, 50 thousand to each of the guards who appeared in the charge: Paulo Marcelo and Manuel Correia.
Regarding the liability of António Sergio Enriquez, Oksana Homeniuk’s lawyer, among other things, argues that the defendant “acted with the specific aim of concealing the fact that inspectors Duarte Laja, Bruno Souza and Luis Silva (all convicted in the first criminal case) on March 12, 2020, Igor Homeniuk was chained handcuffed hands behind his back and left like this “between 08:40 and 16:40”.
Regarding the security company Prestibel, the assistant mentions that “on the Base Portal between the Defendant (Prestibel) and SEF for the period from February to March 2020, no contract was published, and it is not known under which name this company provided its security services at the SEF facilities at the airport Lisbon”.
In the claim for civil compensation, the aide recalls that the guards Paulo Marcelo and Manuel Correia resorted to the means at their disposal to “stop Igor Homeniuk and arrest his movements with industrial duct tape”, at the same time that “with the use of violence”, they pushed the Ukrainian passenger into the SEB doctor’s office at the airport and there “held him hostage for a long time during the night.”
Inspectors Joao Agostinho and Maria Vieira, also accused in this criminal process, are also the subjects of a claim for civil compensation for allegedly becoming aware of the aggression committed against Igor Homeniuk and doing nothing to prevent or prevent such aggressions, with this omission of assistance led to the death of a citizen of Ukraine.
On May 10, 2021, the Central Criminal Court of Lisbon sentenced inspectors Duarte Laja and Luis Silva to nine years in prison and Bruno Souza to seven years in prison for the crime of violating physical integrity. ., exacerbated by the death of a Ukrainian.
On December 7 of the same year, the Court of Appeal of Lisbon (TRL) upheld the sentences of the first two inspectors and increased Bruno Sousa’s sentence to nine years. In July 2022, it was the Supreme Court’s turn to uphold the TRL’s decision.
According to the deputy’s charge at the first trial, Igor Homeniuk died of slow asphyxiation after investigators kicked and stabbed him, resulting in a Ukrainian citizen breaking eight ribs. In addition, he will be left handcuffed, with his hands behind his back and on his stomach, with difficulty breathing for a long time, which will cause a stop of cardiorespiratory activity.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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