Sending young delinquents to the troops is a “peregrine and senseless idea”, say sergeants

The president of the National Association of Sergeants, António Lima Coelho, does not agree with the possibility of young delinquents being called upon to carry out military service, as advocated by the Government.

In statements to the RenaissanceAntónio Lima Coelho refers to “an unserious way” of treating the Armed Forces.

“The Armed Forces are not a correctional institution, nor an institution of social reintegration. Not long ago, to join the Armed Forces it was necessary to have an absolutely clean criminal record. Now, this idea is a peregrine idea that doesn’t make any sense. The important thing is to understand what Armed Forces we want to build”, he states.

The president of the National Association of Sergeants makes a comparison with Vladimir Putin’s regime, when he decided to recruit, from Russian prisons, volunteers for the battlefront in Ukraine.

“This idea reminds me a little of Mr Putin’s idea, when he picked up prisoners from prisons, to send them to the front”, he points out.

António Lima Coelho also brings to light the case of the death of PSP agent Fábio Guerra, attacked outside a nightclub, to highlight the words of Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, chief of the Navy’s General Staff (CEMA), who spoke harshly criticism, at the time, of the marines convicted of the attacks.

“On the other hand, we remember well that not long ago, due to an extremely unfortunate act, Admiral Gouveia e Melo stated, upon the death of that police officer, that the Armed Forces cannot have criminals. There is something here that escapes me and we understand that these types of statements from the person responsible for defending Defense make no sense at all. We are talking about an institution that is the sovereign pillar of National Defense”, he argues.

António Lima Coelho prefers to highlight as more important the request for a hearing already addressed to the Ministry of Defense, “to discuss the serious problems we are facing and analyze ways to make a military career more attractive”.

The National Association of Sergeants is still awaiting a response from the supervisory authority.

The Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo, defended last Friday that young people who commit petty crimes should carry out military service to become “better citizens”, instead of entering “institutions that are schools for crime”.

Nuno Melo acknowledged that there are no political conditions for the return of Mandatory Military Service (SMO) and guaranteed that the Government is studying measures that could attract young people to the Armed Forces.

This Monday, the Minister of Internal Administration, Margarida Blasco, said she agrees with Nuno Melo and considers that military service can be used as a penalty for young people who commit petty crimes.