Category: Uncategorized

The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) has charged a man with 1031 child pornography crimes committed over the internet between 2012 and 2013, the District Attorney’s Office of Lisbon said Wednesday 10^th May.

According to the PGDL, it is alleged in the case that the accused accessed between June 25, 2012 and June 6, 2013, thousands of image and video files containing sexual abuse committed against children under the age of 14, stored, ceded to third parties and posted on the internet.

The defendant is subject to an identity and residence term (IRR).

The investigation was conducted by the 2nd section of the Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DIAP) of Lisbon, and the investigation was carried out by the Judicial Police.

 

 

 

This game emerged in Russia in early 2017.

In Russia more than 100 deaths have been attributed to the “Blue Whale” challenge or similar games. In February two adolescents jumped from a 14 story building in Irkutsk, in the region of Siberia. According to investigators, these suicides took place after completing the tasks.

In Portugal as at 4^th May there are four cases (three of self-mutilation) and one an attempted Suicide that are being investigated by police  for possible connection with this game.

The PSP and GNR have alerted schools throughout the country to this and in turn many have informed parents.

The following information has been provided by the PSP police.

Read more here

On 27^th April a young woman threw herself from an overpass over the railway line and was injured. PSP, who was aware of two other cases, has given advice to parents. PLEASE SHARE THIS.

Participating in a game called the “Blue Whale” is believed to be the origin of this incident that which took place at Algarve railway line in the Ferreiras area of ​​Albufeira.

The young woman, who was injured, was trying to meet the challenges posed by the administrators of an online game , originating in Russia, which is worrying the authorities of several countries because, in addition to inciting acts of self-mutilation. The eventual aim is for the player to commit suicide and the target audience is almost always teenagers weakened by problems such as depression and isolation.

According to the fire department commander, the young woman threw herself from the bridge that crosses the railway line in Ferreiras and “suffered multiple injuries in the lower limbs”, being hospitalized in Faro.

“In the hospital the victim said she was under great pressure and that she threw himself out of the bridge in a state of despair,” he told PÚBLICO António Coelho, relating this situation to the game “Blue Whale”.

Recently an attempted suicide took place in Spain linked to this game. In Brazil, the phenomenon took on more dramatic proportions, with news of several dozen suicides committed by adolescents in at least eight states in the context of participation in the game.

Known as the Blue Whale, the game includes 50 levels of difficulty, the last of which is the suicide of its players. The tasks that your often-adolescent players are challenged to perform start with relatively innocuous things like listening to a particular song or video submitted by the administrators, or curators, of the game.

The Blue Whale reportedly targets players between 10 and 14 year old, pushing them into completing a list of pained daily tasks such as waking up in the middle of the night, cutting shapes into their skin or contemplating death.

As the game progresses over several week, participants reach a final task – committing suicide.

The game that has been spreading online among teens has led to warnings from police across Europe and Russia, Central Asia and North and South America.

The Blue Whale began in Russia on VKontakte – the national equivalent to Facebook – and Russian police have been investigating the relationship between this and suicides over a few months involving about 130 teenagers. More recently, in Colombia, police have detected that some 3200 youths with Facebook profiles have participated in the game.

Telephone help and support services for suicide in Portugal and Europe

SOS – National Relief Service
112

SOS Voz Amiga
(between 16 and 24h00)
21 354 45 45
91 280 26 69
96 352 46 60

SOS Phone Friend
239 72 10 10

Friendship Phone
22 832 35 35

Listen – Voice of Support – Gaia
22 550 60 70

SOS Student
(8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. )
808 200 204

Voices of Friends of Hope
(20h00 to 23h00)
22 208 07 07

On 25^th April the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon, through the Transport Security Division, arrested at a 49 year old man at a metro station in Lisbon for carrying out two robberies on public transport. The person was caught in the act and was also a subject of an arrest warrant for similar robberies.

Wanted for having committed two robberies in stations in the metropolitan area of Lisboa, the man stole a total value of 232.50 euros in these cases. These crimes led to a request to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the Arrest Warrants to be issued and now executed.

The detainee, with criminal records for the same type of crime, has appeared before the 1st Section of Criminal Court of Lisbon, for 1st judicial interrogation, and is awaiting trial under Preventive Detention.

PSP and GNR are expected to start certifying trainers and training dangerous dog keepers by the end of the second quarter of this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) announced today.

Although the ordinance came into effect in 2015,  the Public Security Police and the National Republican Guard, responsible for certification and training, have not started courses due to lack of funding.

However as the funding was approved in January this year the GNR explained that “the start of certification of trainers and the training of potentially dangerous dog keepers is expected soon, and this date will be announced by DGAV (Directorate General of Food and Veterinary) “.

The MAI states that a technical group was created that brought together elements of the PSP, GNR and DGAV to define the technical standards applicable to the certification of trainers and the training program of the holders of dangerous dogs.

According to the MAI, this technical group “has recently completed work”, which will now allow “operationalizing the certification of trainers and the training of the holders”.

“PSP and GNR will begin training and certification soon after DGAV’s approval of the training and certification program for technical standards, which is expected to happen by the end of the second quarter of this year,” says MAI.

Under the law, the GNR and PSP are the competent authorities to certify dangerous dog trainers. In addition to certifying who will be able to train these dogs, the two entities “should also provide the required training to the holders of dangerous and potentially dangerous dogs,” according to the ordinance published in 2015.

Data released by the GNR indicate that there were 65 attacks of by dangerous dogs so far this year, down from the same period last year, when 71 attacks were reported. In 2016 GNR registered a total of 235 attacks and 284 casualties.

Alarm weapons converted into real weapons (illegal in Portugal) and easily acquired on the Internet are one of the biggest concerns of the PSP, as more and more criminal groups are using them.

From 2014 until the end of the first quarter of this year, the PSP seized 6870 weapons of this type, according to data from the Department of Arms and Explosives (DAE) of the police provided to the Diario de Noticias (DN). They are mostly alarm guns that were handed over to the DAE by other security forces and district police commands because they were confiscated in criminal prevention operations or in criminal proceedings. The most frequent are the Reck, Tanfoglio, Rohner and Star models.

It is possible to order one, paying between one hundred and 200 euros, on a site registered in Turkey, where the business is legal, and transform it into Portugal, making it a true and low-cost firearm. Many will be in the hands of criminal groups and others with people who have been unable or unwilling to obtain a license to use and carry a defence weapon.

The purchase of illegal weapons on the internet on sites domiciled in third countries or foreign companies is very difficult to control. “As a serious security threat and in order to combat the illicit traffic in weapons through the internet, Europol has since 2013 carried out a number of operational actions, ranging from the training of police officers to cyber patrolling, especially in sales on the so-called darknet, or the black market of the internet, “said Pedro Moura, commander of the Department of Arms and Explosives of the PSP of Lisbon.

The temporary reintroduction of border control at the Portuguese borders during the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis between 00:00 hours on May 10, 2017 and 00:00 hours on May 14, 2017, at the air, sea and land borders.

All citizens who travel in or out of Portugal by Air: Airports / Aerodromes; Sea: Ports / Marinas or Land: Roads – Rail / Rivers must hold a valid travel document, namely, passport or citizen’s card, at the border control carried out by SEF, the Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service.

According to the Council of Ministers Resolution, the nine authorized border crossings / Land routes will be as follows::

a) Valença -Viana do Castelo, exit of BridgeTuy-Valença – connection IP1 -A3, in Valença, and railway station of Valença;

b) Vila Verde da Raia -Chaves, exit of A52, connection with A24, km 0, by the roundabout;

c) Quintanilha -Bragança, exit of International Bridge IP4/E 82, exit to Quintanilha or by the Joint Police and Customs Cooperation Centre at N 218 -1 Quintanilha;

d) Vilar Formoso -Guarda at the borderline, Border Square, by the Joint Police and Customs Cooperation Centre, N 16/E80, connection 620 Fuentes de Õnoro, Spain, including the old border, N 332, km 62,7, the railway station of Vilar Formoso and the access through Truck Parking, truck route, N16, Vilar Formoso;

e) Termas de Monfortinho -Castelo Branco, N 239 N 240 junction in Termas de Monfortinho;

f) Marvão -Portalegre, borderline, Marvão, N 521 connection to Valência de Alcântara at IC 13 Marvão and railway station of Beirã/Marvão, in Beirã;

g) Caia -Elvas, exit of A6 km 158, connection Caia -Elvas, by the Tourist Office, Elvas;

h) Vila Verde de Ficalho -Beja, by the borderline, connection A 495 Rosal de la Frontera with IP 8, Serpa;

i) Vila Real de Santo António – Border Square, km 131 da A22, International Bridge of Guadiana -Castro Marim, including river quay of Vila Real de Santo António.

On 19^th April the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) detained a foreign citizen in pursuance of a European arrest warrant, issued in order for him to serve a prison sentence in Italy for the commission of extortion and criminal association crimes.

The person was intercepted in Lisbon, in connection with the warrant issued by the Italian authorities, which was pending on him, to serve a six-month and one-month prison term., resulting from his earlier conviction in Italy.

The 43-year-old detainee has appeared at the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Lisbon Court of Appeal regarding his return to Italy to serve his sentence.

A hundred firefighters and at least three dozen vehicles from several corporations are fighting a fire at Trajouce, Sintra’s council.

The fire broke out on Monday night (24^th April) at the Tratolixo plant and, according to SIC-Notícias, is consuming part of the Tratolixo plant.

Tratolixo is an intermunicipal solid waste treatment company, created by the Association of Municipalities of Cascais, Mafra, Oeiras and Sintra.

Commander Pedro Araújo, of the Voluntary Firefighters, told the station there are houses nearby but none are at risk of being hit by the fire despite the wind that is felt.

The GNR Port Territorial Command recovered the components of cars in Trofa and Vila do Conde, in an operation that began on February 17 and ended on April 12, according to GNR.

“The operation, which is part of a process of investigation into theft and receipt of stolen vehicles, has already been carried out in four searches carried out in warehouses and in the commercial establishment of used car parts.”

This operation had the collaboration of two experts from the Judiciary Police in the identification of the components of more than 300 stolen automobiles. The investigation has detected components of more than 300 high-end cars, with the most notable being the BMW, Renault, Peugeot and Citrõen brands, stolen during the period between 2011 and 2017 but particularly during the period June 2015 and February 2017 .

Also according to the GNR, this action “required a detailed analysis of the provenance of the thousands of components found, such as engines, gearboxes, central units, seats, panoramic roofs, axles, seats and doors.”

The value of the vehicles that have been proven as stolen will be about five million euros, and the procedures for delivery of the goods now recovered to their owners has started.