Police accused of killing immigrant in Olhão denies having changed working hours

Um of the two agents of the PSP of Olhão accused of kidnapping and killing a Moroccan citizen in March 2024 denied today in court having changed, eight months after the occurrence, the working hours that did not come to conclusion.

The defendant Jorge Sousa was confronted by the prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor (MP) with a letter sent by the District Command of the PSP during the trial, which takes place in the Court of Faro, with the registration of the incomplete expedient still existing in the computer system of the police force.

PSP agents Jorge Sousa and Pedro Barbosa are accused by the Public Prosecutor of assaults that resulted in the death of Aissa Ait Aissa, after being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit of the Faro hospital for 20 days.

The PSP agent was asked today by the MP about changes to the working hours on November 24, 2024, eight months after the occurrence, according to the letter, including the insertion of the name of one of the two Moroccans involved in the disturbances in a supermarket in Olhão, the second victim of kidnapping.

Jorge Sousa said he only consulted the register, arguing that “the opening and closing” can be given as a change in the system, and rejected having made changes to the original working hours.

It ensured that the data at its disposal at the time of the events were entered into the working hours it initiated on the same day, March 9, claiming that it did not have in its possession the identity of the mortal victim.

The PSP agent once again claimed not to remember why he did not conclude this record, repeating what he had already said on the first day of the trial.

Today it was also heard, by videoconferencing and using the translator, the father of Aissa Ait Aissa, who, like his wife, became assistant in the process. They claim compensation of around EUR 1.6 million.

Mohamed Aissa said he felt guilty for having allowed his son to leave his country to Portugal, where he could earn more money and help his family, and said that his wife “suffered twice”.

Aissa Ait Aissa's father accused the police of killing his son “for nothing” and claimed compensation for moral damages: “I ask the court for rights by my son” was the expression used by the translator.

PSP police officer Abel Xande said today that he did not receive an appointment or verbally informed him of what happened on the day of the events, stating that, normally, when someone is handcuffed inside the patrol car, this should be recorded.

It was also questioned by the MP why it had been subjected to an expedited rescue of a cat by agent Jorge Sousa on the same day, while the other was not completed, explaining that Olhão’s police station is in many occurrences and there are situations that “can pass” due to this overload.

The defendants, who are suspended from duty, are charged with two aggravated kidnapping crimes and a crime of murder, the facts of which date back to March 2024.

According to the charge, the officers took two men in a patrol car out of Olhão and violently assaulted one of the victims, who died 20 days later.

The prosecutor considered that the agents “seriously abused” their authority, knowing that when they suffered “several blows to Aissa’s head and face” it would be possible to cause death to the victim, which occurred on March 28, 2024.

At the first session of the trial, the officers denied responsibility in his death, claiming that, after no complaint of disturbances had been filed at the supermarket, they removed the two men from the area to take them home, handcuffed to the patrol car with their consent, and that they ended up leaving them, both conscious, on a municipal road in Pechão.

Final allegations are set for December 18th at 11:00.