Year: 2020

PS and PSD consider that the grandchildren of Portuguese emigrants who want to obtain the nationality of their grandparents as well as the spouses of national citizens will now have the simplest and fairest process under the law approved today.

The Nationality Law now approved considers only the necessary requirements for granting nationality to Portuguese grandchildren who reside abroad or in Portugal the mastery of the Portuguese language and who do not have a conviction of more than three years in their registration or suspicion of links to terrorist acts , explained the social-democratic deputy José Cesário to Lusa, who voted in favor of the diploma, when his party voted against it.

The PSD voted against the law because of issues related to Sephardic Jews and the children of immigrants born in Portugal, explained the deputy, adding: “I voted in favor because I consider that the changes related to Portuguese non-residents in Portugal are fair measures, that allow Portugal to get closer to Portuguese communities and that were part of the party’s electoral program.

Another change that appears in the law approved today, as proposed by the PSD, and which José Cesário referred to as “an important and more just measure”, is that which concerns the acquisition of Portuguese nationality by Portuguese spouses.

“In this case, too, there was a simplification,” the Social-Democratic deputy, elected by the Out of Europe circle and former Secretary of State for Communities, told Lusa.

“Because now for the spouse to obtain Portuguese nationality, it is enough that he has been married for at least six years to a person of Portuguese nationality”, or earlier, if the couple already has children of Portuguese nationality, he explained.

With these changes, both the grandchildren and the spouses of Portuguese, “now have objective criteria for the attribution of nationality”, defended the socialist deputy Paulo Porto, who considers them “more just”.

In practice, both grandchildren and spouses no longer have the need to “prove their connection to the community”, as provided by the previous version of the law and which was difficult to prove, he said, giving the entire process of obtaining nationality “Greater legal certainty”.

In addition, “it also simplifies work within the conservatories”, stressed the deputy of the PS.

The leftist parties and the PAN today approved, in parliament, in a final global vote, an amendment to the Nationality Law, which allows the children of immigrants living in Portugal for a year to be Portuguese.

The Nationality Law is from 1981 and the last change was made in 2018.

The diploma approved today was based on two bills, the People-Animals-Nature Party (PAN) and the PCP, which were voted in general in December 2019. The diploma of the Bloco de Esquerda (BE) was downloaded without a vote and the bill Joacine Katar Moreira, then at Livre, was unsuccessful

A man who in April last year killed a young man with a stab in the chest has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

He then ran over the victim with a car and setting his body and vehicle on fire, which was abandoned in Vale do Coto, in Caldas da Rainha.

The crime occurred on April 15 of last year, when the victim, a native of Fazendas das Figueiras, in the municipality of Coruche, came to Caldas da Rainha to celebrate his birthday,

His body was found charred on the 23rd of that month, in a private property and land that was for sale, in the middle of the woods, under a burning car, twenty meters from the road that connects Vale do Coto to Barrantes.

The victim had an unknown whereabouts since the 15th, and his disappearance was reported to GNR the next day by family members and later the investigation was passed on to the Judicial Police, to whom the case was transmitted.

On 21st July 2020, Safe Communities Portugal established a section on its website entitled “Safe Communities Silver Coast” to help support the residents of the Silver Coast areas.

SCP has made several visits to the area over the last  2-3 years conducting various seminars such as in Caldas da Rainha and through Program connect in Obidos and other areas.

Program connect has been run by the association’s area representative Colin Scarisbrick a former UK retired police officer who has been a focal point in supporting the residents through engagement with the GNR, PSP and civil protection.

Through this website residents will be able to find out more about the work of the GNR and PSP with contact points as well as latest news.

About 150 counties in 14 districts in mainland Portugal today have a maximum fire risk, according to the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and the Atmosphere (IPMA).

At maximum risk are around 150 municipalities in the districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Porto, Vila Real, Bragança, Viseu, Aveiro, Guarda, Coimbra, Leiria, Castelo Branco, Santarém, Portalegre and Faro.

The IPMA also placed a very high and high risk of fire in almost all municipalities in all districts (18) of mainland Portugal.

According to the IPMA, at least until Monday the maximum and very high fire risk will remain in many counties on the continent, due to the hot weather.

The fire risk determined by the IPMA has five levels, ranging from reduced to maximum.

Calculations are obtained from air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and amount of precipitation in the last 24 hours.

The government declared on Thursday the alert situation in mainland Portugal due to weather forecasts for the next few days that point to a “significant increase in the risk of rural fire”.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) advanced in a statement that the alert situation covers the period between 00:00 on Friday and 23:59 on Sunday.

“In view of the weather forecasts for the coming days, which point to a significant increase in the risk of rural fire, the ministers of Internal Affairs and the Environment and Climate Action signed this Thursday the order that determines the declaration of the alert situation throughout the territory of the continent ”, states the MAI.

The declaration follows the activation of the special red alert status, the most serious of a scale of four, for the districts of Viana do Castelo, Braga, Vila Real, Bragança, Viseu, Guarda, Castelo Branco, Santarém, Porto and Aveiro.

Within the scope of reinforced monitoring and the degree of readiness of the Special Rural Fire Fighting Device (DECIR), the special red alert status means that the degree of risk is extreme because there is the possibility of the occurrence of phenomena “of exceptional intensity, which is very likely to result in very significant damage and a very significant reduction in the safety of people, which can threaten their physical integrity or even life, in a vast area ”.

In the remaining districts, Beja, Évora, Coimbra, Faro, Leiria, Lisbon, Portalegre and Setúbal, the orange alert state was activated, the second most serious of a quarter scale, which translates into a high risk level.

The MAI stresses that the declaration of the alert situation also stems from the need to adopt preventive and special reaction measures in view of the maximum and very high fire risk predicted by the IPMA, at least until Monday, in more than half of the continent’s counties. due to hot weather.

Within the scope of the declaration of the alert situation, foreseen in the Civil Protection Bases Law, measures of “exceptional character” will be implemented, such as the prohibition of access, circulation and permanence inside the forest spaces previously defined in the Municipal Plans for Forest Defense Against Fire, as well as in forest paths, rural paths and other paths that cross them.

In the next three days, burning and burning of exploration leftovers and the total use of fireworks or other pyrotechnic devices, regardless of their combustion form, are also prohibited, as well as the suspension of authorizations issued in the districts where the red alert status has been declared by the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC).

Within the scope of measures of an “exceptional character”, work in forest areas and other rural areas using any type of machinery is also prohibited.

Lisbon, 16 Jul 2020 (Lusa) – Five professionals linked to the health sector were today arrested by the Judicial Police (PJ) in an operation that involved searches of medical clinics, homes and companies and which investigates crimes of corruption, qualified fraud, document forgery and spread of disease.

According to a statement by the PJ on “Operation Therapy”, in which two men and three women were detained, this is a fraudulent scheme for the provision of treatments not reimbursed by any health subsystem, especially by the Institute for Protection and Assistance in the Disease (ADSE).

“However, due to the fact that acts different from those performed are billed, the subsystems proceed with requests for reimbursements submitted by their beneficiaries”, says PJ.

The investigative acts – the PJ also reveals – are related to the performance of “ozone therapies”, which are not reimbursed by the health subsystems, and there is also no convention or protocol between ADSE and these clinics. In addition, according to the PJ, they are carried out by professionals but who are not properly qualified.

“There are indications that the suspects resorted to practices, convincing users that ozone therapy is effective in the treatment of covid-19 or that it allows them to gain immunity, exploring the fragility and vulnerability of people afraid of the virus or even infected, the suspects knowing that with the practice of these acts they can contribute for the spread of contagious disease, creating danger for the life or serious danger for the physical integrity of the victims and third parties “, states the PJ.

In these clinics, clinical analyzes were also carried out, namely to detect infection by SARS-Cov-2, which causes covid-19, without being licensed or meeting the necessary conditions, namely clinical management.

The operation, in charge of the National Unit to Combat Corruption of the PJ, was carried out by 50 members of that police and had the collaboration of the Ordem dos Médicos. In addition to the searches and arrest warrants, the police action also made it possible to collect evidence that substantiates the crimes imputed in the investigation.

The police investigations were accompanied by an attorney from the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action and a judge from the Central Court of Criminal Investigation.

The detainees are between 32 and 62 years old and will be subjected to the first judicial interrogation to apply coercion measures.

The president of the National Health Council, Henrique Barros, says that more trips during the vacation period increase the risk of transmission of Covid-19, but it is not necessary for that to happen. For that he speaks of a triangle of forces that will help to contain possible outbreaks.

Henrique Barros, says that vacations do not have to be a period of increase in cases of Covid-19 in Portugal. It recognizes that there is a risk of this happening, but there are ways to avoid it if the necessary precautions are taken.

Henrique Barros, who is also responsible for the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto, begins by recognizing that if there is a movement of people “there are likely to be more cases”. But immediately afterwards he emphasizes that this is not a story that necessarily has to have this ending. “It is not inevitable that vacations bring an increase in cases,” he says in an interview with Renascenca news.

The protective shield for the hypothetical growth of cases at the time of July and August, in which the Portuguese traditionally take their holidays, is for this epidemiologist composed of a triangle: people are at one of the corners and “each one of us taking on the duty to protect yourself and others “, at the other end is” the set of rules and some behavioural surveillance “, and at the third” we must have a public health capable of intervening on each identified case “.

“There has to be a prompt response to identify these cases. There must be a concern that people understand that there is a set of protective measures for themselves and others. If these measures are respected, the increase in cases is very small”, underlines Henrique Barros.

The expert gives an image that can help you understand what you mean by the question of risk and inevitability. “On a hot day there is a greater risk of fire, but it does not necessarily have to happen. Covid and the holidays are the same,” he explains.

There is almost no “community transmission”

Despite the sustained increase in cases, especially in the region of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley, since the beginning of the lack of definition in the beginning of May, the president of the National Health Council believes that Portugal “has been doing a job of increasing verification of chains of transmission”, in such a way that “the number of cases for which it is impossible to find an epidemiological link is very small”.

“I dared to say that transmission in the community practically does not exist”, he concludes.

He argues that, at this moment, new cases are being identified “as aggregate cases”, that is, “case boxes”. But these, he assures, “have been able to be circumscribed”. However, to say that an outbreak has ended and a chain has stopped, this “requires waiting 28 days, at least 14 days for the last case”.

This would be the time from now, with no other factors such as the arrival of people from abroad, it would lead the country to considerably reduce the number of cases.

Henrique Barros also defends that Portugal has been able to stop the growth of the disease, because there are “very few cases that we have not been able to identify the origin”.

The same expert defends this thesis with a number. “If there were transmission in the community, the increase would be much faster. In Portugal, if today we have 100 cases at the speed at which we are transmitting, it would take 80 days before they become 200 cases. This is what we call case doubling time. When the infection is active, this duplication takes place in half a dozen days ”, he concludes.

The collision with electric lines was the cause of the helicopter accident that fought a fire in Sobrado, Valongo, Porto district, on September 5, 2019, causing the death of the pilot, Noel Ferreira, concluded the investigation.

The final report of the Office for the Prevention and Investigation of Aircraft Accidents and Railway Accidents (GPIAAF), to which the Lusa agency had access today, explains that, when approaching for the second water start, “when crossing an obstacle constituted by high voltage lines ”, the AS350-B2 bucket and tail rotor touched the cables, leading to loss of control of the device.

“The loss of control of the aircraft was inevitable and a consequent fall in rotation, covering a total distance of 84 meters until it immobilized on its left side, six seconds after the impact with the cables. After the collision with the ground, an intense fire immediately broke out and consumed the aircraft in its entirety. The pilot and sole occupant of the aircraft was fatally injured, ”says GPIAAF.

Noel Ferreira, 36, was also a pilot of the Portuguese Air Force at Squadron 751, based in Montijo, which operates the EH-101 helicopter in search and rescue missions, and also commander of Cete’s Voluntary Firefighters, in Paredes, district of Porto, which, “at the time of the accident, was among others, fighting the fire on the ground”.

The Eurocopter took off at 15:10 from a private Afocelca base (Navigator group) in Valongo, Porto district, with a team of five firefighters and the fire-fighting equipment consisting of a basket and bucket. After dropping the intervention team on the ground, and the bucket having been positioned, the pilot flew to a nearby water point for the first supply and discharge in the fire.

The cycle repeated, in the second approach to the fire and in coordination with another aerial medium that operated on the spot, “the pilot, aware of the existence and location” of the electric lines, “defines the trajectory for the second start”.

“After crossing a very duly signaled first line of very high voltage, composed of 14 conductors, the aircraft and the suspended bucket collided with a second line. This second line, composed of 8 conductors, was positioned at a lower level and about 45 meters from the first horizontal distance, ”says the report.

The lines on which the helicopter crashed were not signposted, but the investigation notes that, “in view of the current regulations, such signage is not a requirement, since they were in the area of ​​influence of another higher signposted line”.

After the collision, without a tail rotor or vertical stabilizer, the device “started an uncontrolled flight until it collided with the terrain”.

“The pilot’s body was found 5 meters to the right of the cockpit seat, (…), a situation that could not have resulted from the fall or the explosion, thus evidencing its autonomous movement after the fall”, concluded the researchers.

According to the report, the pilot recorded 180 hours of total flight time experience on the AS350-B2 model, mostly in firefighting operations, in which he participated since 2018.

In terms of risk assessment, GPIAAF underlines that, in view of the physical scenario and the verified conditions, “it cannot be excluded that another additional factor contributed to the accident, namely that the pilot felt one or more of the types of pressure characterized in a ICAO circular – International Air Transport Organization: mental pressure resulting from the operation, motivational pressure and peer pressure ”.

“As the pilot was fighting a fire by air when on the ground was a corporation of volunteer firefighters, in which, in addition to sharing the spirit of mission and a companionship relationship, there was also a hierarchical connection where the pilot was the commander of this corporation, it cannot be excluded that there could be, to a certain degree, a propensity to devalue or relativize the risks, in search of the best success in the rapid fire domain ”, points out the report.

However, according to the researchers, “the mental attitude with a focus on flight conditions is decisive in the necessary and constant risk assessments required of a pilot with the numerous threats presented in the experienced scenario, especially in flight situations where there are no concrete rules and strict performance, as is the case with these operations with airlines ”.

Person arrested for alleged homicide in Olhão

The Judiciary Police (PJ) stated on Wednesday that the 53-year-old woman murdered in Olhão, allegedly by her partner, will have suffered “serious chest injuries caused by assault using a bladed weapon”.

In a statement, the PJ indicated that the victim’s companion, 82, was arrested for “strong evidence of the practice of the crime of qualified homicide”, having a “history of domestic violence”.

The suspect will be present for judicial interrogation to apply coercion measures.

The crime, according to the PJ, occurred on Wednesday inside the house where the couple lived with their two youngest children, aged 15 and 05 years old (police source had previously said that the youngest son was 4 years old).

None of the children were present at the time, but it was the eldest son who found the woman’s body.

After the crime, the suspect left the scene, appearing before the police authorities after about eight hours later.

In the set of actions carried out by the PJ, “relevant evidence elements were collected” that made it possible to carry out the “arrest of the alleged author”.

A source from the Public Security Police (PSP) revealed on Wednesday that the 82-year-old man went “voluntarily to the PSP police station in Olhão around 11:30 pm”, after having been missing for several hours.

 

SEF operation in Santarém – three detainees and 140 people identified as victims of illegal immigration

The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) on 6^th July complied with three arrest warrants for suspected crimes of human trafficking and aiding illegal immigration in the Santarém area. In addition to the arrests, 40 search and seizure warrants were carried out.

In the “Lezíria” operation, around 140 foreign workers mainly of Indian origin were identified, of whom about 20 were already identified as victims of the crime of trafficking in persons. These citizens were mostly subjected to degrading conditions of work, accommodation and health.

This SEF operation had as main objective the dismantling of a network of human trafficking and related crimes, with the introduction of foreign workers, some of them in an irregular situation, on agricultural holdings in Ribatejo. During the searches several computers were seized, several documentary evidence of the practice of the identified crimes and a large amount of money.

This is an investigation delegated to SEF by the Santarém Public Prosecutor’s Office and which took place over a year.

The detainees will be presented to the court for the application of the respective enforcement measures.

This operation took place with the presence of members from the Specialized Multidisciplinary Teams to Assist Victims of Human Trafficking, in order to guarantee the appropriate treatment of the situations detected there and had the support of several partners in logistical terms.

In total, 120 SEF operators participated in the operation.

 

A 36-year-old man abuses a nine-year-old girl

The Judiciary Police arrested the 36-year-old man in Aveiro, after suspected sexual abuse of a nine-year-old child.

The victim, a nine-year-old girl, is the daughter of a friend who welcomed the suspect into her home. The suspect has no official residence or professional occupation, according to an official statement issued by the Judiciary Police.

“The suspect has no professional occupation, nor official residence, the victim being the daughter of a friend, who gave him shelter. It was in this context of proximity that several significant sexual acts took place”, stated in an official statement released by the PSP

According to the PSP, the criminal acts occurred in one of Aveiro’s urban parishes.

 

PSP operation “2 or 4 wheels on the road, there is room for everyone”

The Public Security Police (PSP), between 7 and 13 July, are increasing the inspection of motor cyclists, as well as the behaviour of other road users that jeopardize the safety of motorcyclists themselves.

This operation is focusing on:

• Dangerous driving in the context of racing, skill displays and vehicle stunts on public roads;
• Correct use of the protective helmet;
• Compliance with traffic lights;
• Correction of procedures prior to the overtaking manoeuvre;
• Correct change of the traffic lane and adequate signalling of manoeuvres;
• Compliance with speed limits and priority rules and,
• Detection of those drink driving.

The PSP intends, primarily, to contribute decisively so that the gradual increase in the road flow does not imply an increase in the accident rate and, on the other hand, to reinforce with the drivers the need to drive cautiously.

In the same statement, PSP reports that between January 1 and June 15, 2020, there were:

• 13, 656 car accidents with damage (a drop of 31% compared to 2019, with 19,710 accidents) and
• 4,727 traffic accidents with victims (a 35% drop compared to 2019, with 7,259 accidents), resulting in 36 fatalities (a 41% decrease compared to 2019, with 61 victims), and
• 5,559 injured, 247 of whom were in serious condition (an overall variation of 38% compared to 2019, in which 8924 were injured, of which 342 were in serious condition).

From this national data, it is important to highlight that the accident rate with two-wheel motor vehicles represents, between January 1 and June 15, 2020, 35% of the accident rate with victims (1617 occurrences), resulting in 8 deaths and 1745 injuries, of which 76 in serious condition.

In the same time frame in 2019, the accident rate with two-wheel vehicles represented 31% of the overall accident rate with victims (2299 accidents), resulting in 11 fatalities and 2539 injuries, 105 of which were in serious condition.

 

Mother takes the life of his own son 17 years who suffered from autism.

A 17-year-old boy, who suffered from autism, was found lifeless inside a well in the Cabanelas area of Mirandela, in the district of Bragança.

The young man’s mother reportedly alerted the authorities to her son’s disappearance, indicating that the young man could possibly be inside a well, a source from GNR and Civil Protection said.

According to the same source, the young man’s mother ended up confessing to the perpetration of the crime, which led to the case being conducted by the Judiciary Police to investigate the circumstances in which the 17-year-old’s death occurred.

The alert was given at around 4:45 pm and several firefighters and GNR operatives were mobilized to the site, who found the young man’s body shortly after they emptied the well.

 

PSP mega operation in inspecting 2500 people in illegal races

More than 2500 people were inspected in an operation on Monday night, during PSP action against illegal races in the Industrial Zone of Barosa, in Leiria. Three people were arrested, and 42 cars were apprehended, according to Jornal de Notícias.

The mega-operation culminated in the inspection of “about 1,200 vehicles, and more than 2,500 citizens, in the execution with 3 arrests for lack of legal authorization to drive, 42 vehicles apprehended due to changes in characteristics, 22 cars for other infractions related to the Highway Code and consumption of drugs”, explains the PSP.

 

Braga GNR identifies 7 women and 12 clients at illicit house

The Territorial Command of Braga, through the Criminal Investigation Center (NIC) of Fafe, on July 2, identified two men, 35 and 65 years old, that were arrested for pimping and possession of prohibited weapons, in Cabeceiras de Basto.

The action was carried out following an investigation, initiated in November last year, relating to the crime of pimping, with the NIC military carrying out three search warrants, two in homes and one in a commercial establishment.

In the commercial establishment, seven women were identified, between the ages of 30 and 45, 12 clients, aged between 18 and 65, and 1260 euros and 120 condoms were seized.

Two house searches were also carried out, at the residences of the owner of the establishment and tenants of the space, in Chaves and Felgueiras, and the following material was apprehended:

• A weapon converted into a 6.35mm calibre
• 11 rounds of ammunition;
• An aerosol pepper spray cannister

The suspects were accused of the crimes of pimping and possession of prohibited weapons and the facts presented to the Judicial Court of Cabeceiras de Basto.

The Prime Minister said today that, for now, the situation of calamity should remain in 19 parishes in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and that there is no reason to raise the level of alert in general for the country.

This position was transmitted by António Costa at the end of a two-hour meeting with the Mayor of Sintra, Basílio Horta, in which the executive leader was accompanied by the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, and by the Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Duarte Cordeiro, who is also the Government coordinator for the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region to combat the covid-19.

“I do not anticipate that the classification status of the different parts of the country will change in the next fortnight. The good news is that for now nothing indicates that we have to raise the level of alert that prevails in most of the country,” he said.

Regarding the Lisbon Metropolitan Area as a whole, the Prime Minister admitted the possibility of “some evolution”.

“We will see, but there is still more than a week” to make the decision, he said.

Regarding 19 parishes in the municipalities of Sintra, Amadora, Lisbon, Loures and Odivelas, which are in a state of calamity, António Costa said the following: “For the moment, I do not anticipate that there are conditions to move forward in order to reduce the degree classification of the state of exception “.

Before the journalists, the Prime Minister referred that, after today’s meetings in Sintra and Amadora, he will also have identical meetings with the mayors, health authorities and local security authorities of the municipalities of Odivelas, Loures and Lisbon – the other three counties most affected by the covid-19 pandemic.

“I try to make a local assessment with people who are on the ground, in order to determine how everything is working and how the response has been. Only an integrated response ensures effectiveness in combating the covid-19 pandemic”, he defended.

António Costa considered that it is still too early to draw conclusions about the results of the measures adopted in relation to the areas most affected by the covid-19, “because only one week of application has passed”.

“The numbers indicate that there is a tendency for stabilization and no longer for growth. But it is still early and we should not disarm”, he stressed.

In the case of Sintra, the Prime Minister highlighted measures taken to reinforce the intervention capacity of the security forces and to speed up the speed of testing in order to detect positive cases.

“This is essential to ensure containment. Although the outbreaks are located, they still have a major impact on the overall life of the entire country,” he added.

On the part of the Sintra Chamber, in addition to Basílio Horta, the meeting with the members of the Government and with António Costa, the councilors Eduardo Quinta-Nova and Domingos Quinta, Fernanda Lopes for Social Security, the public health delegate Noémia Gonçalves, the subintendent from PSP António Santos and João Sanches by GNR.