“Unfortunately, a breach of a confidential document occurred. It should not have happened, as it was a working document,” stated Luís Neves, speaking on the sidelines of a ceremony for 113 new PJ inspectors in Lisbon.
Accompanied by Justice Minister Rita Alarcão Júdice, the national director of the PJ added, “Regarding what happens in meetings and the decisions made, it is important to respect the confidentiality issues involved.”
Moments earlier, the Justice Minister, who oversees the PJ responsible for investigating terrorism crimes, declined to discuss “a report that remains confidential until its publication and a meeting that is secret and should not be disclosed.”
“We have various levels of information sharing: internal sharing, which exists and will continue among law enforcement agencies, and external sharing, which must be conducted with utmost caution and rigor,” she emphasized.
At issue is the absence from the 2024 RASI, submitted to the Assembly of the Republic on April 1, of pages 35 to 39 from an earlier report version. This section pertained to the chapter on “extremisms and hybrid threats,” warning of the presence in Portugal of a representation of an international extremist organization, classified as terrorist in several countries.
The preliminary report further noted that this organization organizes events, such as music gatherings on national territory, which serve as recruitment and fundraising methods to produce propaganda material.
On April 15, the Secretary-General of the Internal Security System assured, in response to a question from the parliamentary group of the Left Bloc, that the version accessed by journalists “was one of the working document versions” that underwent amendments for two months, based on input from around 30 entities.
Patrícia Barão additionally highlighted that the “national situation analysis” chapter of the final 2024 RASI document explicitly references political extremism on pages 30 and 31, aligning with contributions from the Portuguese Republic’s Information System (SIRP).
Typically, the RASI is presented following the meeting of the High Council of Internal Security by the SSI Secretary-General, alongside the Ministers of Internal Administration and Justice, which did not occur this year.
On March 31, it was Prime Minister Luís Montenegro who spoke at the press conference, without revealing the final document and only responding to one question from journalists.
