Henrique Gouveia e Melo is second on the list of witnesses summoned by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, following Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues. However, the notifications sent to the former admiral’s address, as recorded in the court registry, were consistently returned to the court.
The case now proceeds to trial after the Lisbon Central Court of Instruction determined in December 2024 that there was sufficient evidence to try ten out of the twelve individuals charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the crimes of aggravated attempted bodily harm, aggravated insult, aggravated threat, and qualified damage in its consummated form.
The charges relate to incidents during the pandemic—one in August 2021, when denialists shouted “murderer” and “genocide” at Gouveia e Melo, who was then the coordinator of the COVID-19 vaccination task force, near the vaccination center in Odivelas. The other incident occurred a month later near the parliament, when they called Ferro Rodrigues “pedophile” and “disgusting” as he walked with his wife to a nearby restaurant for lunch.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office charged twelve individuals, but some requested an instruction phase, and Judge Sofia Marinho Pires decided not to indict two of the defendants, who were accused of attempted aggravated bodily harm against then Admiral Gouveia e Melo.
