Two PSP officers from Olhão, Jorge Sousa and Pedro Barbosa, began standing trial at the Faro Court this Tuesday, facing charges from the Public Prosecutor's Office for two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of qualified homicide. The facts date back to March 2024, when the police officers allegedly took two Moroccan immigrant men in a patrol car outside the city and violently assaulted one of them, Aissa Ait Aissa, who ultimately died approximately 20 days later at Faro Hospital.
The GNR ruled out the hit-and-run hypothesis from the very first moment. Experts from the Traffic Accident Crime Investigation Unit explained in court that the two bloodstains found at the scene, separated by approximately seven meters, were not compatible with the dynamics of a hit-and-run, but indicated a prior occurrence of deliberate origin. The situation was reported to the Judicial Police, who considered there was insufficient evidence to go to the scene at that time. The investigation only began two months after the events.
The defendants denied any responsibility and stated that the men were "peaceful" and "calm." According to their version, after a second incident at city supermarkets, they decided to take them home with their consent, to remove them from the conflict zone. The police officers explained that the immigrants were handcuffed as a self-protection measure and that they left them at a location known as "caminho da sucata" in Pechão, conscious and apparently intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
The Public Prosecutor's Office considered that the officers acted "freely and consciously" and "grossly abused" their authority. According to the indictment, when Aissa Ait Aissa was outside the vehicle, the defendants concertedly struck the victim several times on the head and face, including at least one with an object, causing a skull fracture. The cause of death was brain contusion with subarachnoid hemorrhage and refractory cerebral edema. The trial session continues on Friday at the Faro Court.
