Three of the 16-year-olds suspects of eight crimes of aggression and theft in Olhão, the majority of Asian immigrants, will remain in preventive detention, decreed today, Wednesday, February 15, the Court of Faro.
According to Jornal de Notícias, the decision was taken after the three young people were heard this Tuesday by the court. Only one of the young people assumed some of the accusations, with the others refusing to speak.
The three young people in question were leaders of a youth gang of eleven suspects, eight boys and three girls aged between 14 and 16, who allegedly committed crimes of robbery and aggression in the city of Olhão.
According to a note from the Public Prosecutor's Office of the District of Faro, the three youths were indicted for co-authorship of four crimes of theft, one crime of attempted robbery, four crimes of offense to qualified physical integrity. One of the detainees also added a crime of damage with violence.
The three detainees "occupied a leadership position in a youth gang", which also included "five subjects, one aged 16 and the rest aged 15", who, according to the Prosecutor's Office, "participated in the above-mentioned crimes in a timely manner ». These other elements of the gang were opened "educational tutelary investigations".
The crimes took place on different dates in January of this year, in the city of Olhão, and the victims were Portuguese homeless people and foreign immigrants.
The Prosecutor's Office adds that "this is the group that, on January 25th, at around 23 pm, on Rua João Lúcio, in Olhão, beat a foreigner with a punch, kick and stick, following which they appropriated 30 euros, headphones and a lighter he was carrying».
The video of this crime, committed against a Nepalese citizen, was published on social networks on February 2, which generated a wave of public indignation and repudiation, including from the President of the Republic.
The images triggered an investigation, which ended with the arrest of the three young people earlier in the week, as well as the identification of other members of the group, which was possible after viewing more than 20.000 videos, as well as hundreds of hours of CCTV footage, and other endeavors.
The investigation carried out by the Public Security Police, supervised by the Public Prosecutor's Office, continues, "since there are indications that other young people were part of the gang, albeit irregularly".
Updated at 14:10 pm, adding information from the Public Prosecutor's Office of the District of Faro
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