A 39-year-old defendant was charged with six counts of forest arson, but the panel of judges confirmed only two.
The decision was based on surveillance camera footage that “captured the accused entering and leaving the two locations moments before the fires started.”
The single sentence resulted from the legal aggregation of two partial sentences, one of two years and the other of three years in prison, for each of the crimes.
The presiding judge further explained that the court decided not to suspend the sentence because the defendant showed no critical reflection on the facts, having chosen to remain silent.
The defendant, who will remain in preventive detention until the appeal period expires, attended the sentencing via video call.
During the trial, the panel of judges heard from the Judiciary Police inspector who led the inquiry into the fires that occurred on May 11 and 26, 2024, in Macieira de Cambra. The inspector noted that the defendant was identified through the surveillance cameras present at the site.
The witness mentioned that the defendant eventually confessed to the acts during interrogation. “He confessed to several fires, many of which we were unaware of and had not been reported to us,” he stated.
The defendant, a construction worker residing in Vale de Cambra, was arrested in June 2024 by the Judiciary Police with the assistance of the Task Force for Reducing Ignitions in Rural Areas – North Zone, which consists of multidisciplinary teams from police and environmental authorities.
At the time of the arrest, the Judiciary Police indicated that the detainee was strongly suspected of seven forest arson crimes, committed in Macieira de Cambra, Vale de Cambra, in April and May of 2024.
“The fires were allegedly started using an open flame, without the defendant pointing to any specific motivation,” said the Judiciary Police, adding that these fires posed a threat to significant forest areas and nearby homes and factories.
