The Minister of Justice announced today that Isabel Leitão, until now deputy director-general of the Directorate-General for Reinsertion and Prison Services (DGRSP), will take over from Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves, who resigned from his post as director.
“I have accepted the resignation submitted by the Director General of the DGRSP and the Deputy Director General responsible for EP [prison establishments]. Dr. Isabel Leitão, until now Deputy Director General of the DGRSP, will take over as replacement,” said Rita Alarcão Júdice, at a press conference held at the Ministry of Justice in Lisbon.
The presentation of Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves' resignation was announced about an hour before Rita Alarcão Júdice's press conference, with a Government source confirming that the Minister of Justice had accepted the request.
Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves has been in charge of the General Directorate of Reinsertion and Prison Services (DGRSP) since August 2022.
He was appointed by former Minister of Justice Catarina Sarmento e Castro during the last socialist government, succeeding Public Prosecutor Rómulo Mateus, who led the institution since February 2019.
A psychologist by training and an academic with work in the area of prisons, inmates and social reintegration, Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves holds a PhD in Justice Psychology from the University of Minho, where he worked until 2022 as an associate professor with tenure.
He was a forensic psychologist at the Justice and Community Psychology Consultation Unit, where he dedicated himself mainly to expert assessment and intervention with violent and dangerous offenders.
He developed and coordinated investigations into the prison system, psychopathy, marital and sexual offenders, and forensic psychology.
The departure of DGRSP occurs following the escape of five inmates, on Saturday, from the Vale de Judeus Prison Establishment, in Alcoentre, in the municipality of Azambuja, district of Lisbon.
The escapees are two Portuguese citizens, Fernando Ribeiro Ferreira and Fábio Fernandes Santos Loureiro, a citizen of Georgia, Shergili Farjiani, one from Argentina, Rodolf José Lohrmann, and one from the United Kingdom, Mark Cameron Roscaleer, aged between 33 and 61.
They were sentenced to between seven and 25 years in prison for various crimes, including drug trafficking, criminal association, robbery, kidnapping and money laundering.
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