The two PSP agents from Olhão, Jorge Sousa and Pedro Barbosa, began their trial at the Faro Court, denying responsibility in the death of Aissa Ait Aissa, a Moroccan man who died in March 2024 after 20 days in the Intensive Care Unit at Hospital de Faro due to a brain contusion with subarachnoid hemorrhage and fatal cerebral edema.
The police officers explained that they were called twice on the same day to disturbances allegedly caused by Ait Aissa and another man at supermarkets in Olhão. As the employee of one of the establishments did not want to file a complaint, the agents decided, with the agreement of the two men, to take them handcuffed in the back of the PSP vehicle to their home.
The defendants stated that the immigrants appeared to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, but behaved peacefully and were conscious when they were left at a location known as "the scrap yard path" in Pechão. Pedro Barbosa denied having deleted a message about the occurrence on WhatsApp, stating it was related to another matter.
Forensic doctor Aníbal Coutinho stated that the hit-and-run hypothesis was "out of the question," indicating that the cause of death was a deliberate assault that caused a depression fracture in the left area of the skull. The Public Ministry considers that the agents acted freely and knowingly, seriously abusing their authority.
