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The President of the Republic comments on the case of a Ukrainian assassinated by three inspectors at the Lisbon airport and questions the very existence of the Aliens and Borders Service.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, defended, this Thursday, the replacement of the current Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) by “another”, if it is confirmed that the attacks against the Ukrainian Ihor Homenyuk, which resulted in his death , correspond to a usual “modus operandi” of this criminal police force.
“If this is an isolated act, in which there are certain perpetrators, it is one thing. If this is a form of operation of the SEF, it is another and it is much more serious. That is what must be determined quickly,” exhorted Marcelo I rebel. of Sousa. “Because if it is a common procedure, a systematic action, what is at stake is the SEF itself. And the government will have to be the first to recognize that such an institution cannot survive on the terms in which it has existed. It is no longer A, B, C, D, the whole system is bad and we need to replace it globally with another “.
Questioned by journalists, the President of the Republic suggested the need to account for some type of abuse of authority committed at the SEF facilities, to insist once again on that message: “It is important to check whether or not there is a sin mortal in the system. there is, so this SEF does not, and has to move towards a completely different reality. “
Marcelo also warned that if the option is to change the SEF, “another question arises.” “It is to know if those who gave life to the system, during a certain period, can be protagonists of the following period; if they should not be other protagonists of the following period ”, he stressed, without clarifying, however, if he pointed to the direction of the SEF. , in which the resignation Cristina Gatões was replaced by the deputy José Barão, or the guardianship minister, Eduardo Cabrita, who has held the position since 2017.
Portugal compensates the victim’s family
The press conference at the Belém Palace, in Lisbon, took place minutes after finishing another in which the Minister of Internal Administration had announced the decision of the Council of Ministers to grant compensation to the widow of Ihor Homenyuk and two minor children , without waiting for the conclusion of the judicial process in which three SEF inspectors are charged and will be tried for qualified homicide.
The compensation, whose amount has not yet been calculated by the Ombudsman’s Office, was approved by the Government the day after Eduardo Cabrita’s office issued a note to the media in which it indicated that Cristina Gatões had resigned and announced the general characteristics of an alleged “restructuring process” of the SEF, but did not have a word in the case of Ihor Homenyuk.
This Thursday morning, the minister corrected the shot and, under the pretext of today on the occasion of the International Day of Human Rights, issued a new note to talk about the “tragic events that occurred in the Space Equalized to the Temporary Installation Center of the Lisboa Airport (EECIT) “, between March 10 and 12 of this year.
“Welcome to the defense of human rights!”
Both in that note and in the press conference that followed the meeting of the Council of Ministers, Eduardo Cabrita argued that he made “several decisions” in the nine months after the murder of Ihor Homenyuk, taking responsibility for opening an investigation. in the General Inspectorate of Internal Administration, for the opening of two disciplinary proceedings against the director and deputy director of Fronteras de Lisboa (with cessation of functions) and others involved in the case of Ukraine, as well as for the closure of the EECIT to prepare restructuring.
More: the minister said that he was the first to act, “when many were neglected”, and even resorted to irony to defend that, if anyone gave little importance to the case of Ihor Homenyuk, it was the “commentators” and the “media. “. : “Welcome to the defense of human rights!” He declared.
Cabrita says that Gatões “did well” to leave
Regarding the resignation of Cristina Gatões, the minister considered that “the national director did well to cease her duties”, because “she cannot accompany this body in this context of transformation,” she justified.
However, when asked about the reason for not having dismissed Cristina Gatões earlier, the minister replied simply that the director of the SEF could only be dismissed for reasons of disciplinary or criminal responsibility, or for “alteration of the political order “.
“I have a clear conscience”
Regarding his own situation, Eduardo Cabrita ruled out a possible resignation. “I have been a minister since 2017 and have a clear conscience,” he said, arguing that he did what he had to do in this case, but also because, supposedly, the country had spent the last three years “without loss of life” in forest fires and , on the other hand, with the lowest rates, provided there is a history, of generalized crime and serious and violent crime.
Eduardo Cabrita also said it was “absolutely false” that, in an impeachment scenario, “the outgoing SEF director was once considered a liaison officer in London.”
Regarding the replacement of Cristina Gatões by a deputy with connections to the PS, the minister responded that party affiliation “was not a criterion” of choice.
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