The Public Prosecutor’s Office has charged three police officers with various crimes for allegedly beating a suspect inside the Almada Court and falsifying the arrest report to suggest the young man had first tried to attack them.
According to the charges, the main defendant is a 56-year-old principal PSP officer facing charges of two counts of qualified bodily harm, one of aggravated kidnapping, one of aggravated document falsification or forgery, one of aggravated threats, and one of aggravated insults.
The other defendants include a 33-year-old PSP officer charged with two counts of qualified bodily harm, one of aggravated kidnapping, and another of aggravated document falsification or forgery, as well as a 26-year-old sub-commissioner, superior to the two officers, suspected of one count of qualified bodily harm and another of aggravated document falsification or forgery.
The incident dates back to February 24, 2025, when the young man, approximately 20 years old, and the three officers were at the Almada Court for a summary trial where it was alleged he had insulted them the previous day.
While the sub-commissioner was in the courtroom, the two officers reportedly noticed the suspect dancing in the court’s atrium.
The charge sheet, dated July, states that the main defendant allegedly slapped and punched the young man before immobilizing him with help from the other officer, before again delivering two punches to the head.
During this time, the principal officer purportedly made gestures comparing the young man to a monkey while demanding respect.
After leaving the courtroom, the same officer allegedly threatened the detained and handcuffed youth on the way to the elevator.
Inside the elevator, with the sub-commissioner present and in front of a judge and prosecutor, the young man was slapped once more before being taken to the police station.
According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, this constituted an illegal arrest, with the content of the report falsified to create the impression that the officers’ aggression was in response to alleged threats and attempts at aggression by the detainee.
The atrium incident was fully recorded by the Almada Court’s surveillance system.
On April 30, a PSP source stated that one of the officers had been suspended from duty by the investigating judge during the investigation and was also subjected to an internal disciplinary process.
At that time, the then-presiding judge of the Lisbon District Court, to which the Almada Court belongs, said the situation “does not honor justice,” but that “fortunately, it is isolated.”
“We have no other case that compares,” Artur Cordeiro assured, highlighting that the situation “was dealt with immediately.”
