The General Inspectorate of Internal Administration (IGAI) opened, on its own initiative, an administrative process regarding the PSP operation in Martim Moniz, in Lisbon, which took place last Thursday, the newspaper Expresso reported this Tuesday.
Speaking to the weekly, the Inspector General of Internal Administration, Judge Pedro Figueiredo, revealed that, until now, the IGAI “has not received any complaints about police abuse or anything similar regarding the special operation carried out on Rua do Benformoso, in Lisbon, last Thursday”.
During the afternoon of Thursday, a strong police presence surrounded Benformoso Street, where there is a large community of citizens from the Indian subcontinent, and searched dozens of people, who spent between one and two hours facing the wall.
Two men, both of Portuguese nationality, were arrested, one for possession of a prohibited weapon and drugs and the other on suspicion of at least eight crimes of robbery.
The PSP's actions have been criticized by immigrant associations, anti-racism groups and various political forces, who accuse the police of serving the government's propaganda against illegal foreign citizens.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, also considered that police actions must be carried out with discretion.
The IGAI opened "on its own initiative, an administrative process, requesting information from the PSP about the aforementioned operation", the inspector general told Expresso.
The Lisbon Metropolitan Command (COMETLIS) of the PSP clarified that in the “special crime prevention operation” in the parish of Santa Maria Maior, in Lisbon, it seized 435 euros in cash, suspected of coming from illicit activities, seven batons (wood and iron), 17 envelopes with passport-size photos suspected of being for use in illicit activities, 3,435 euros in cash, a passport and several documents suspected of aiding illegal immigration, 581.37 grams of a drug suspected to be hashish, a bladed weapon and a mobile phone that was listed as stolen.
The PSP added, in a statement released on the day the operation took place, that in that area "disorderly situations involving bladed weapons and other incidents related to offences against physical integrity frequently occur".
he police operation was accompanied by a public prosecutor and six non-household search warrants were served.
Regarding the procedures, COMETLIS spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Ana Raquel Ricardo, explained that a “special crime prevention operation gives legitimacy to carry out other types of investigations, namely the search of citizens who are at the location and the search of vehicles” that circulate there.
The same person in charge stated that the contingent employed “was what was necessary” for an operation of this type, without, however, revealing the number of professionals involved.