Year: 2020

Violent and serious crime rose 3% last year compared to 2018, with 14,398 violent crimes registered, 40 per day, according to data from the Annual Internal Security Reports which should be approved today.

According to the Annual Internal Security Report (RASI), which will be approved today by the Superior Council for Internal Security, there were more robberies on public roads, in shops, more kidnappings and kidnappings , more violations, more serious attacks and more carjackings (car thefts).

Crime in general has also risen, with more than 335,000 crimes recorded, up 0.7% (2,400) compared to 2018.

According to the report, thefts on public roads were the violent crimes that rose the most in 2019, with almost six thousand cases (627 more, + 11.8%).

Commercial robberies rose to 432 (29.8% more).

“Thefts in schools also went up: there were up by 32. Thefts, in different forms, added up to 75.9% of the total of serious and violent crimes. They have been decreasing since 2009”.

According to RASI, there were 661 serious attacks (82 more cases, + 14.2%) and last year there were 338 abductions and kidnappings up 65.

With regard to violations, 431 (+ 2.4%) were registered – this is the third consecutive year of increase in the numbers of this particular crime.

The crimes of voluntary homicide consummated in 2019 dropped to 89 (minus 21, -19.1%), still a higher value than 2016 (76) and 2017 (82), according to the report.

RASI also highlights the increase in juvenile delinquency (committed by young people between 12 and 16 years old). There are 1,568 records (more 86, + 5.8%), reversing the decrease of previous years.

As for domestic violence, the data indicate that it rose 11.4%, with 29,498 crimes registered in the category (plus 3015, + 11.4%).

Counterfeit-related crimes also increased considerably in 2019: 13,705 seizures (+ 45%), for a total of 1 million euros (+ 68%).

Computer fraud also rose, with 16,310 being reported last year (another 6,527, + 66.7%). There were 10,990 “other scams” (-4.7%).

The report also highlights an increase in simple assaults, with 23,279 registered last year (455 more, + 2%). Threat and coercion also: 15,136 (+ 5.1%).

RASI, quoted by the newspaper, also indicates that Castelo Branco (+ 20.7%), Portalegre (+ 10.5%), Faro (+ 8.3%) and Aveiro (+ 5.9%) are the districts to lead the rise of general crime.

It is also highlighted in the report that PSP, GNR, PJ, SEF and Maritime Police ended 2019 with 44,642 elements (45,522 in 2018). 1,284 policemen left and only 411 entered.

The 2019 Annual Homeland Security Report (RASI), a document in which crime statistics and police operational results are published, should have been released three months ago.

The Internal Security Law requires that RASI be sent to parliament by March 31, but the declaration of a state of emergency on the 18th of that month, because of the covid-19, led the prime minister’s office to request the suspension deadline.

At the beginning of the year, the Minister of Home Affairs said that preliminary data from RASI pointed to a further decline in violent crime in 2019.

In the RASI, an analysis and evaluation is carried out by the Superior Council for Internal Security – which includes, among others, all security forces and services, Armed Forces and respective supervisory ministers – and the strategic priorities for the following year are prepared.

Dismantled human trafficking network in Spain.

Spanish police dismantled an international organization dedicated to human trafficking and arrested 12 people, including the group’s leader, Cabecilha a Central African who lived between Portugal and Germany,

According to a press release published by the Spanish Civil Guard (corresponding to the Portuguese GNR), most of the detainees are of Sub-Saharan and Moroccan origin.

During the operation searches were carried out mainly in Spain, with three being carried out in Portugal, two in Germany and one person was detained in the Netherlands.

Since the beginning of the investigation, nearly 1,000 victims, including women and children, have been identified, seized two kilograms of marijuana and it is estimated that more than 500,000 euros have been confiscated.

The operation began in 2018, when Civil Guard agents detected that a “large number of undocumented immigrants” were being transferred to France under duress.

The victims were mostly African migrants, among whom it was common to find minors and pregnant women who were recruited in their countries of origin to work irregularly and precariously in Spain, from where they were later taken to France, Belgium and Germany for a fee of 500 to 750 euros. To guarantee payment, offenders often took advantage of the extreme vulnerability in which migrants found themselves, even going so far as to abandon a child who could not pay the full amount required for passage.

A part of this organisation had their headquarters in Spain and was composed mainly of sub-Saharan citizens who lived in the province of Lérida and was headed by the head of the organization in Spain, from the city of Roselló (Catalonia).

According to the Spanish Civil Guard, “the leader at the international level”, known as “the chief”, was an individual of Central African origin, residing in Portugal and Germany. This individual had a history of being involved in irregular immigration activity in other European countries and boasted 25 years of experience in this activity. To increase profits, “the boss” created a business and real estate structure, which allowed him to also attract Asian immigrants (usually Nepalese, Hindus, Pakistanis), who moved from Germany to the Iberian Peninsula, mostly to Portugal.

The network organized ‘non-stop’ trips across the Iberian Peninsula-Germany, using rented vans or one of the organization’s 12 vehicles on behalf of others, which they filled with migrants and fuel barrels, maximizing per trip profits.

Suspects detained in the Azores for trafficking and production of ‘Crystal Meth’

Four suspects were seized at a clandestine amphetamine manufacturing laboratory, 144 doses of drugs, several vehicles and a “high value” recreational vehicle were seized.

APSP detained four men, aged between 34 and 45, this Sunday, on the island of São Jorge, in the Azores, involved in the criminal activity of drug trafficking and production of narcotic products.

In a statement sent to Notícias ao Minuto, PSP clarifies that the seized drug is commonly called ‘Crystal Meth’.

During the three house searches and one non-resident search, the authorities seized several objects related to the production of the above-mentioned product, a clandestine laboratory for the manufacture of amphetamines, as well as 144 doses of narcotics.

Several vehicles and a recreational vessel of high value were also apprehended, due to suspicions of being related to the crime.

The detainees will be presented at a judicial hearing where they will be served with adequate disciplinary measures fitting their crimes.

PSP performed blood donations for the Portuguese Blood Institute

June 14 was World Blood Donor Day and the PSP, setting an example of citizenship, held a blood collection session, promoted by the Portuguese Institute for Blood and Transplantation, IP (IPST) – Lisbon Blood and Transplantation Centre, at the headquarters of the Special Police Unit, in Belas.

The PSP informs that: “they donated along with the, UEP police, PSP’s Criminal Investigation Department and the Symphonic Band. Despite the contingencies resulting from the current pandemic situation, it was possible to adjust the security protocols with the IPST and ensure the success of the blood donation.

Considering the huge turnout, a new session has already been scheduled. ‘To give blood is to offer life”.

PSP seeks to identify those involved in vandalism

PSP criminal investigation teams were mobilized to collect evidence that could lead to the identification of the perpetrators of the act of vandalism of the statue of Padre António Vieira, in Lisbon. Damage to monuments constitutes a public crime and the process will be forwarded to the Public Ministry.

Criminal investigation teams from the Public Security Police (PSP) carried out an investigation this Thursday in the Largo Trindade Coelho area in Lisbon, where a statue of Father António Vieira was vandalized, a COMETLIS source told Lusa.

According to the source of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the PSP (COMETLIS), “there was a projection of red paint” on the figures of Father António Vieira and three children, who make up the set of sculptures, and the word ” Decolonizes “at the base of the monument.

According to the same source, after the media alert, PSP criminal investigation teams were mobilized, who took steps on the spot “to collect more and better evidence” that could lead to the identification of the perpetrators.

PSP and Tomar veterinary services collect eight dogs

The Environmental Protection Brigade of the PSP of the Tomar Police Division and the municipal veterinary services of the Câmara de Tomar carried out a joint operation on Tuesday, June 16, where they detected several irregularities with several dogs.

During the awareness-raising and inspection action aimed at legalizing and vaccinating dogs in the city of Tomar, the agents collected eight dogs that they found in unacceptable conditions in addition to the dogs collected, the authorities made several notifications to regularize the situation of dogs that did not have a chip, nor vaccines up to date.

The Government today approved a one-month extension of the simplified lay-off, until the end of July, and new support for the resumption of activity that will be in effect from August and until the end of the year.

The measures were foreseen in the Economic Stabilization Program (PEES), created in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and approved two weeks ago by the Council of Ministers.

The simplified lay-off, which foresees the suspension of the employment contract or the reduction of working hours and the payment of two thirds of the normal gross remuneration, financed 70% by Social Security and 30% by the company, initially ended in June but was extended until the end of July.

As of August, the simplified lay-off will continue to be possible only for companies that remain closed due to legal obligation.

For the remaining companies in difficulties due to the pandemic, new support is planned from August with a view to the gradual resumption of activity, without the possibility of suspending the contract, but only to reduce working hours.

Thus, for companies that have a turnover drop between 40% and 60%, working hours can be reduced up to 50% between August and October, increasing to a maximum of 40% from then on and until the end of the year.

If the revenue breakdown exceeds 60%, the company can reduce workers’ hours by up to 70% from August and up to 60% from October.

The employer pays all hours worked and the State ensures 70% of those not worked.

With this new regime and taking into account the hours worked, as of August the worker starts to receive between 77% and 83% of his remuneration and, from October, between 88% and 92% of his salary.

The measure that replaces the simplified ‘lay-off’ has as its main assumptions “the progressive convergence of the worker’s remuneration to 100% of his salary” as well as the “payment by the company of all hours worked”, it can be read in the PEES.

In turn, companies that have benefited from the simplified ‘lay-off’ regime can have an extraordinary financial incentive to normalize business activity, choosing one of two modalities: a minimum wage (635 euros) paid once or two wages minimum payments over six months.

The new regime approved today by the Government also provides for the progressive reduction of the exemption from the Single Social Rate (TSU).

As of August, the large lay-off companies will pay TSU in full, while micro, small and medium-sized companies will maintain the exemption and, from October, they will pay 50% of the fee until the end of the year. end of year.

The extension of the simplified lay-off and the new support will cost 2.5 billion euros, said the Prime Minister, António Costa, in the presentation of the PEES two weeks ago.

The Council of Ministers also approved the stabilization complement, with the objective of providing extraordinary support to workers who had a reduction in income as a result of the pandemic.

This is a measure to be paid in July, in the amount of the loss of income of a month of lay-off, in an amount that can vary between 100 and 351 euros, to all workers with February income up to two minimum wages and who have registered a loss of base salary (that is, they have a base salary higher than the minimum wage), who were in ‘lay-off’ in one of the months between April and June.

The measure costs 70 million euros.

The President of the Republic acknowledged this Wednesday, in Figueiró dos Vinhos, that there is still much to do in terms of territorial cohesion in the municipalities most affected by the Pedrógão Grande fires of June 17, 2017.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who attended the religious celebrations that marked the three years of the tragedy that killed 66 people in that district of Leiria, said that “we would all wish” that the socio-economic development of the affected territories “would appear faster and more vigorously”.

“This has not always happened, despite the efforts made and, therefore, we must recognize that there is much more to be done, here in particular, for territorial cohesion, which is a bet for the future”, stressed the head of state.

For the President of the Republic, the fires of June 2017 represented a “lesson in territorial cohesion”, in that it served as a “call to attention for so many Portuguese who live far away and started to perceive and understand inequalities a little better, the asymmetries, the situation so discriminated, in economic and social terms, of parts of the national territory “.

The violent fire that broke out in the early afternoon of 17 June 2017, exactly three years ago, in the municipality of Pedrógão Grande, district of Leiria, caused the death of 66 people, in the deadliest fire recorded in Portugal.

Today, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, marked the date when he participated at 11:00 am in a mass in Figueiró dos Vinhos, a neighboring municipality to Pedrógão Grande and which was also hit by the flames.

Also the minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, participates in the mass, in the church of the Convent of Nossa Senhora do Carmo.

The Pedrógão Grande fire also caused the destruction of half a thousand homes and 50 companies, in addition to hundreds of injured.

More than two thirds of the fatalities (47 people) were in vehicles and were surrounded by flames on the National Road 236-1, between Castanheira de Pera and Figueiró dos Vinhos, in the northern interior of the district of Leiria, or in access to that route.

Estimates made shortly after the fires indicated that damage to the forest would exceed 83 million euros, while damage to housing amounted to more than 27.6 million euros, in industry and tourism to close to 31.2 million euros. euros, in agriculture to 20 million euros and in other economic activities to more than 27.5 million euros.

The damage caused to municipal infrastructure was then estimated at around 20 million euros and on the national road network at around 2.6 million euros.

In October of the same year, several fires that mainly affected the Center region caused the death of 50 people.

The Council for the award of compensation to the victims of the Pedrógão Grande and October 2017 fires fixed, at the end of November of that year, the minimum value for life deprivation at 70 thousand euros.

The deaths caused by the Pedrógão fire led the Coimbra Department of Investigation and Criminal Action to open an investigation that investigated the responsibilities in the fire.

The process of rebuilding the burnt houses also led the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Coimbra to open an investigation.

The investigation resulted in an indictment against 28 defendants for the alleged practice of 20 crimes of fraud, 20 crimes of malfeasance of the holder of political office, 20 crimes of falsification of documents, a crime of computer fraud and a crime of false declarations.

On June 7, 2019, the Assembly of the Republic unanimously approved a draft resolution that enshrines June 17 as the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Forest Fires.

The Government has extended until the end of the month the ban on flights to and from countries outside the European Union, within the scope of the measures to contain the spread of covid-19, according to an order published in Diário da Republic.

The diploma, signed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, National Defence, Home Affairs, Health, and the Secretary of State for Affairs and Communications, takes effect from Monday until the last day of June.

The “extension of the ban on air traffic to and from Portugal for all flights to and from countries that are not part of the European Union” (EU), allows exceptions, such as the countries associated with the Schengen Area (Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland), the Portuguese speaking countries, as well as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Venezuela, Canada and South Africa, given the presence of important Portuguese communities.

Regarding Portuguese-speaking countries, the diploma safeguards that in the case of Brazil only flights from and to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro will be admitted.

The rules contained in this order also do not apply to flights aimed at the entry and departure of nationals of the European Union, of states associated with the Schengen Area and of third countries with legal residence in a Member State of the European Union, as well as persons of third countries traveling for study purposes.

This diploma applies to commercial flights, excluding State and Armed Forces aircraft, aircraft integrated in the Special Rural Fire Fighting Device, as well as flights for the exclusive transportation of cargo and mail, or of a humanitarian and medical emergency nature.

Fica também definido que, através de despacho conjunto, os ministros da Administração Interna e da Saúde podem adotar medidas específicas de controlo sanitário necessárias, em função da origem dos voos e atentas as orientações da Comissão Europeia e a avaliação da situação epidemiológica pelo European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

In the context of the epidemiological situation caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the exceptional measures adopted to deal with the covid-19 pandemic, in March the ban on air traffic to and from April 17 was determined from Portugal for all flights to and from countries outside the European Union, successively extended until 00:00 on 15 June, taking into account the assessment of the epidemiological situation in Portugal and the European Union and the measures proposed by the European Commission.

Despite the progress made, the Government maintains the extension of air traffic restrictive measures, “taking into account the guidelines of the European Commission of 11 June 2020 regarding the application of temporary restrictions to non-essential trips to the EU, in a common coordinated approach opening up the EU’s external borders and according to the evolution of the epidemiological situation ”.

The strike by CTT workers against the payment of lunch allowance on the meal card starts at midnight today at post offices, SNTCT Secretary General Víctor told Lusa news agency Narcissus.

As it is a public holiday, “the strike begins at midnight at the central post offices”, starting in Cabo Ruivo, Lisbon, said the secretary general of the National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Workers (SNTCT).

This is the second strike of Correios de Portugal workers in two weeks (the last one happened on May 29), and the payment of the meal allowance on card was the engine of this strike, which is joined by the claim for “better conditions” work “, the protest against the” disorganization of the company “and the” wage freeze “, among other points.

Víctor Narciso said that his expectations of joining “are good”, judging by the last strike.

In a statement, CTT anticipates that, “in general in the country, the effects of the strike are not very felt, with the possible occurrence of constraints located in specific areas”, stating that “they have articulated a contingency plan in order to avoid, in case of need, problems in its operation in defense of the provision and quality of service to our customers “.

In the last stoppage, on May 29, according to the union, more than 70% of CTT workers were on strike against freezing wages and the payment of the card meal subsidy, but the company placed the membership at 18.5%.

According to the union, workers do not accept the proposal to allocate a meal card as a form of payment for the food subsidy, thus replacing the monthly payment by bank transfer, as has been done so far.

In the note sent today, CTT states that this strike covers both the company’s networks – the postal distribution network (postmen) and the service network (CTT stores) -, but not the Post Office network operated by CTT partners. , nor agents that provide PayShop payment services.

CTT also warns that, on strike days, no membership fee released before 12:00 on June 12, 2020, that is, before the absence of workers in the payroll processing system is completed, can be based on complete data.

According to the company, the decision to start paying the food allowance through a meal card to employees who had not yet chosen this route was one of several measures taken to face the revenue shortfall and ensure the company’s sustainability.

CTT underlines that the meal card can be used in any establishment selling food products and “represents a clear economic advantage for everyone: for the company, it represents a lawful way of substantially reducing costs; for employees, it means savings annual average for IRS, in the order of 100 euros “.

The strike was called by the SNTCT, SINDETELCO – Democratic Union of Postal, Telecommunications, Media and Services Workers, SITIC – Independent Union of Information and Communications Workers, SINCOR – Independent Union of Portuguese Post Offices, SINQUADROS – Union of Cadres de Comunicações de Communications, SINTTAV – National Union of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Workers, SICOMP – Union of Communications of Portugal, FENTCOP – National Union of Transport, Communications and Public Works, SERS – Union of Engineers, SNEET – National Union of Engineers, and SERS – Union of Engineers of the Southern Region.

Olof Palme murder: Sweden believes it knows who killed PM in 1986

Swedish prosecutors have named the man who they say killed former Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme in 1986, ending years of mystery.

They said it was Stig Engstrom, a graphic designer known as “Skandia Man” who killed himself in 2000. As a result they were closing the investigation into Palme’s death, Chief Prosecutor Krister Petersson said.

Palme was shot in the back as he walked home from the cinema with his wife in Stockholm.

He had already dismissed his security team for the day. The assassination took place on Sweden’s busiest road, Sveavagen, and more than a dozen witnesses saw a man fire the shots before fleeing the scene.

Palme’s son Marten told Swedish radio that he believed prosecutors had reached the right conclusion and were right to close the case.

“However, it was of course a bit disappointing that they didn’t have more conclusive evidence, like DNA or a weapon that they could trace to the crime,” he told the BBC.

Thousands of people have been interviewed over Palme’s death. A petty criminal was convicted of the killing but the verdict was later dismissed.

Year-long global investigation focused on a dark net site known as ‘Babyheart’ and its administrator, ‘Twinkle’.

The Portuguese Judicial Police have hosted a media event to show how international cooperation led to the arrest of two men who sexually abused children.

The event, hosted at the Portuguese Judicial Police Headquarters in Lisbon included INTERPOL, Europol and US ICE, each of which had an important part to play in the events leading up to the arrest of the offenders in 2017.

Those events were the culmination of a year-long global investigation by various police agencies into the child abuse dark net site known as ‘Babyheart’ and its administrator, known as ‘Twinkle’.

Working collaboratively and using the secure information exchange systems provided by Interpol and Europol, investigators from different agencies including US ICE, Austrian Bundeskriminalamt, French Gendarmerie, Italian Polizia di Communicazioni,  UK National Crime Agency and West Midlands Police, Australian Federal Police and Queensland TaskForce Argos, Canada’s Toronto Police Service and the Brazilian Federal Police gathered intelligence.

That intelligence pointed at the user Twinkle being the administrator of the ‘Babyheart’ dark net site who sexually abused children and posted images of that abuse on the site. However, he was using the anonymity of the TOR network to protect himself against the efforts of investigators.

He further claimed to be using advanced methods of encryption and counter-surveillance to ensure that he would not be detected or prosecuted by law enforcement. He gave limited details as to his actual identity and made finding himself more difficult for investigators by providing misleading information in online posts, messages and through the child abuse material he claimed to have produced.

Careful analysis of the intelligence provided by all the law enforcement agencies involved, including pictures and video files led to a breakthrough. The location of the suspect was then narrowed down to Portugal.

The Portuguese Judicial Police took control of the investigation and engaged with the prosecutor’s office. Further criminal intelligence analysis by experts at INTERPOL, Europol, and US ICE led to significant new information about the suspect and the victims that he was believed to be abusing.

Thanks to this cooperation the suspect was arrested and charged. His electronic devices were seized and examined, leading to the identification of seven victims directly related to him.

Commenting on the case, Valdecy Urquiza, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Vulnerable Communities unit, said: “This case required input and support from so many different stakeholders – it was a textbook example of how international collaboration can put harmful individuals behind bars. We look forward to building on this experience in order to protect more children from sexual abuse.”

Cultivation of industrial hemp controlled by IFAP, GNR and PSP

The cultivation of hemp, (‘cannabis sativa’) for industrial purposes, including food, will now be controlled by the Agriculture and Fisheries Financing Institute, Judiciary Police, Republican National Guard and Public Security Police.

According to a draft regulatory decree to which Lusa had access, “in the case of growing hemp for industrial purposes, including for food or animal use or the manufacture of compound feed or food, from the varieties of cannabis sativa to production of fibres and seeds not intended for sowing, the control functions are carried out by the Agriculture and Fisheries Financing Institute [IFAP], together with the Judiciary Police [PJ], the Republican National Guard [GNR] and the Public Security Police [PSP] ”.

This issue will be the fifth amendment to regulatory decree No. 61/94 of 12 October, which establishes rules regarding the control of the lawful market for narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and other chemicals that may be used in the manufacture of drugs.

In turn, authorization for the cultivation of industrial hemp will have to be requested from the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV).

The fees for authorization requests are set at three thousand euros for the cultivation, production or wholesale trade of plant species for medical or research purposes, 1,200 euros for import or export and for transit thousand euros.

The changes and maintenance of these authorizations imply the payment of one thousand euros, while the fees for the cultivation of industrial hemp are fixed at 50 euros, plus, when applicable, “the cost of laboratory control analyses”.

The application of fines and sanctions for the use of authorization for a purpose other than that established is the responsibility of Infarmed – National Authority for Medicines and Health Products, excluding those resulting from competences attributed to DGAV.

Prisoner released under an exceptional regime rearrested.

A 21-year-old man recently released under the exceptional sentence easing regime, due to the covid-19 pandemic, was rearrested on Wednesday 10th June in Lisbon on suspicion of theft, the PSP announced.

“The suspect, was recently released under the exceptional regime of easing the execution of sentences, following the pandemic situation,” said the PSP, reported that the young man was detained in the parish of Penha de França, following a complaint of theft, “with violence”, in which the victim, a 25-year-old man, had his wallet taken, after being asked for a cigarette.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Command of Lisbon of the PSP reported that, in addition to this occurrence, the suspect was detained “twice for crimes of the same nature” in the last 12 months, verifying that in both situations the penalty of preventive detention was issued.

When he was released 3 years and 9 months early of an effective prison sentence due to the covid-19 pandemic, , “after having proven 12 crimes of theft, some of them qualified,” referred the PSP, adding that, after being presented to the court for the first interrogation of the detained accused, he was once again placed back in custody.

The exceptional regime for the release of prisoners, in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, allowed about 1,900 prisoners to be released.

This regime allows the granting of a partial pardon of sentences of up to two years, defines a special pardon regime, from which 14 detainees benefited, authorizes extraordinary administrative exits of prisoners and provides for the exceptional anticipation of probation.

Suspect involved in thefts from foreigners’ homes in the Algarve

A suspect has been detained concerning cases of several thefts, in Silves” and in other localities in the Algarve, namely between Monchique, Vila do Bispo, Aljezur” and also in the Alentejo

The GNR detained a man suspected of several thefts in the homes of foreign citizens, in the Algarve, taking advantage of the absence of owners in the countries of origin, due to the pandemic of covid-19.

The Criminal Investigation Nucleus (NIC) of Portimão of the Territorial Command of GNR in Faro detained “a 41 years old man, for several thefts, in Silves” and in other locations in the Algarve.

Following the police investigations, it was possible to gather “the evidence relating the suspect to six other thefts in residence, which occurred in the second half of May, between Monchique, Vila do Bispo, Aljezur” and in Alentejo, adds the GNR.

In the scope of the investigation, which “lasted for about a month”, in addition to identifying and detaining the alleged perpetrator of the thefts, GNR recovered (and seized) “more than twenty tools linked to civil construction, several bottles of drink, and several GPS devices [acronym for global positioning system, satellite navigation system] ”.

A search was also carried out at the suspect’s residence, where various materials were seized, namely three shotguns and about 300 cartridges, three light vehicles, a motorhome, a motorcycle and a trailer, specifies the GNR.

The detainee, who has an existing criminal record, was presented to the Judicial Court of Portimão.

GNR seizes half a ton of sardines in Matosinhos

The GNR Matosinhos Coastal Control Detachment has announced the seizure of 508 kilos of sardines, with an estimated value of 3,082 euros, because the source of the fish is unknown.

In a statement released by the GNR a spokesperson stated that “Although the capture of sardines has been allowed in Portugal since June 1, due to the fact that the origin of the fish is unknown, an administrative offense was prepared for lack of traceability, an infraction punished with a minimum fine of 250 euros and a maximum of 25 thousand euros”, explains the GNR, in a statement.

This seizure occurred on Tuesday 10^th June, during an inspection of the grounds of the fishing port of Matosinhos and the surrounding area.

The GNR officers detected the fish in boxes but were unable to determine the ownership of the fish.

The seized fish was subjected to hygienic verification and donated to institutions of social solidarity in the North region.

Since the commercialization of sardines “it has become a resource of interest for Portuguese fishing, for the canning industry and for the export of fishery and sea products”, GNR defends that “the resource must not be exploited in order to guarantee, in the long term, the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the fish, within a precautionary approach, defined based on the available scientific data, while trying to ensure the fishing income to its professionals”.

The operation and use of outdoor pools requires that those responsible for the management of these spaces implement procedures for the prevention and control of infection, ensuring compliance with rules of occupation, permanence, cleaning of spaces and physical distance between users, in accordance with rules defined by the Government in the current epidemiological context.

The swimming pools are recreational spaces visited every year by thousands of people, so it is important to define the aspects to be taken into account in their operation and use, so as not to jeopardize the strategy adopted to control the Covid-19 pandemic.

The use of outdoor pools is no exception to compliance with the general measures to combat the pandemic, defined by health authorities, which recommend physical distance and avoidance of concentration of people, frequent hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, cleaning and cleaning of spaces and the use of a mask or visor by the professionals supporting the pools.

On the other hand, and in accordance with the provisions of no. 2 of article 30 of Decree-Law no. 24/2020, of 25 May, it is necessary to adopt special rules to be adopted regarding the occupation and use of swimming pools outdoors and regarding the guarantee of water quality, health and safety of the facilities.

Thus, the Government defines that in enclosures with outdoor swimming pools where chairs, loungers, umbrellas, stalks or similar equipment are available for use by users in the surrounding area, they must be ensured in order to provide for a distance of three meters, except when occupied by users belonging to the same group.

In addition to the ban on equipment for collective use, use of recreational and / or collective equipment by users, such as buoys, mattresses or the like, which may hinder the enjoyment of spaces by others, should be avoided. users in compliance with the rules of physical safety distance.

In outdoor showers, sanitary facilities and circulation areas of outdoor pools, the use of footwear is mandatory.

The maximum permitted occupancy must be defined according to the restrictions necessary to comply with the rules of hygiene and physical distance between users, with the maximum number of people allowed in each outdoor pool defined by the competent local authority.

Those responsible for the management of enclosures with outdoor pools must ensure the posting of operating rules and prevention and mitigation measures implemented in a visible place, as well as adopt a signaling system at the entrance of the enclosure that allows users to obtain information about the occupation of space, using the color code provided for in article 12 of Decree-Law no. 24/2020, of 25 May.

This regime defined by government order and already in force is extended to swimming pools integrated in tourist developments and in local accommodation establishments.