The 13 soldiers who refused to board the Mondego claiming lack of security will be heard this Monday by the Military Judicial Police (PJM) in Lisbon as part of a criminal investigation following the involvement of the navy.
According to a source close to the process, 13 soldiers will be heard at the PJM facilities in Reshtelo, Lisbon in the morning (10:00) and afternoon (14:00).
Accompanying the military will be lawyers Paulo Graça and García Pereira, while it has already become known that the defense disputes the version of events spread by the Navy, and claims that there were “evidence that was erased.”
The navy “cleaned” the ship and repaired the ship with the materials brought by plane to Funchal, thereby changing the evidentiary material, the defense of the military claims.
On the night of the 11th IRP (Portuguese Republican ship), Mondego did not complete the mission to escort the Russian ship north of Porto Santo, in Madeira, because 13 garrison soldiers (four sergeants and nine soldiers) refused to land for security reasons.
On Thursday, Lusa contacted the Chief of Public Relations of the Military Judicial Police, who confirmed that “a group of military personnel has been advised to report to PJM next Monday.” He added that the military would be “heard by the PJM Criminal Investigation Team in criminal proceedings of a ‘purely military’ nature and of an ‘urgent’ nature.”
It will focus on violations of the Code of Military Justice on “disobedience by disobedience” and “disobedience by illegal arrest or unlawful severity.”
Navy Chief of Staff Admiral Gouveia e Melo on Thursday in the port of Funchal criticized the soldiers on the Mondego for disobeying orders, saying the matter was “very serious” and that “the navy cannot forget, ignore or forgive acts of indiscipline.”
Among the various technical limitations cited by the military to refuse to land on the NRP Mondego was the fact that the engine and electrical power generator were not working, among other alleged shortcomings of the ship.
The Navy confirmed that the Mondego had a “failure in one of its engines” but stated that warships “can operate in a very degraded mode without compromising safety” because they have “very complex and very redundant systems”.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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