The Lisbon Court where the case is being judged decided to ask the factory in Mem Martins, Sintra, where Igor works, to automatically record entries and exits, before evaluating the alibi.
An employee, a supervisor and an assistant at the manufacturing unit in Mem Martins, Sintra, where Igor works relied on documents to show that the defendant was working the shift from 4 pm to midnight on April 19, 2022. This was the night that, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s accusation, a 16-year-old boy was raped by “casuals” linked to the No Name Boys cheerleading squad, after a game, close to the Estádio da Luz.
Amândio Gomes, supervisor on the defendant’s shift, said that Igor was working, according to his record, and that it was impossible to leave without being detected. “It’s impossible for someone to leave their post without realizing it, Igor was in charge of three production lines for nylon reels for fishing and he couldn’t leave without warning.”
The group of judges wanted to know if another of Igor’s colleagues could help if he left work. The witness was unable to respond and referred to worker cards for control of exit and entry into the factory.
Vítor Carapinha, assistant supervisor, does not remember seeing the defendant, but guarantees that “if he was absent or absent, he would notice and register it”. “My job is to control the lines and nothing has been reported,” he assured.
Recognition called into question
In this trial session, two PSP agents also testified who were alongside Igor on the “reconnaissance line” at the Benfica police station on the day of the arrests, in February last year. The defendant’s lawyer wanted to know if the police had worn any equipment characteristic of the PSP, such as tactical boots, but the witnesses did not remember. He also asked whether, being both Caucasian, they had African ancestry, like the defendant, which, naturally, they denied.
This defendant and four other defendants are free, unlike the remaining eight, who are in pre-trial detention. It is on these that the strongest suspicions of participation in the rape fall. They are all “casual” fans, a mischaracterized and violent subgroup supporting football clubs, in this case Benfica. In addition to the crime of rape, they are liable for theft, offenses against physical integrity, illicit recordings, aggravated coercion, disobedience, possession of a prohibited weapon and drug trafficking.
