The trial is proceeding following the Lisbon Central Criminal Court’s decision in December 2024, which identified sufficient evidence to prosecute ten out of twelve individuals initially charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The charges include aggravated assault in attempted form, aggravated insult, aggravated threat, and qualified damage in completed form.
The accusations relate to incidents during the pandemic, notably in August 2021 when protestors yelled “murderer” and “genocide” at Gouveia e Melo, then coordinator of the COVID-19 vaccination task force, near a vaccination center in Odivelas. Another incident occurred a month later near the parliament, where they called Ferro Rodrigues “pedophile” and “disgusting” as he walked to a nearby restaurant with his wife.
Initially, twelve individuals were charged by the Public Prosecutor, but after some requested a formal investigation phase, Judge Sofia Marinho Pires decided not to proceed against two of those accused of attempted qualified assault against Admiral Gouveia e Melo.
