Abdul Bashir, initially deemed legally incompetent by the Public Prosecution, was sentenced on June 2 by the Lisbon Central Criminal Court to the maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment. The panel of judges determined the Afghan citizen as competent, consequently changing the coercive measure from preventive internment to pre-trial detention.
Dissatisfied, the defense appealed to keep the confessed murderer in the prison hospital of Caxias (Oeiras) and avoid his transfer to a regular prison, a position supported by the Public Prosecution.
On Wednesday, the Lisbon Court of Appeal rejected the appeal, maintaining the measure of pre-trial detention.
In the ruling, reported today by SIC Notícias and accessed by Lusa, the appellate judges stated that the modification of the coercive measure made by the trial court was a “direct and necessary consequence of the change” regarding Abdul Bashir’s competency.
“The change in the measure stems solely from what the defendant refers to as the ‘discrepancy with the clinical evaluation,’ which means that, while the declaration of competency persists, the requested change [from pre-trial detention to internment] is unfeasible,” they conclude.
Another appeal from the Public Prosecution remains pending in the Lisbon Court of Appeal, which seeks to have Abdul Bashir declared incompetent and replace the 25-year prison term with a security measure exceeding three years.
During the trial, the Afghan citizen confessed to killing two women, aged 24 and 49, on March 28, 2023, who worked in the refugee support service at the Ismaili Center.
In total, the defendant was convicted of seven out of the 11 crimes he was charged with: two counts of aggravated murder, three counts of attempted murder, one count of resistance and coercion against an official, and one count of possession of a prohibited weapon.
