Second trial on Lisbon airport death begins
Ukrainian jobseeker Ihor Homenyuk died two days after being held on arrival in March 2020.
The second trial related to the death of Ihor Homeniuk in 2020 began this Monday.
This time, two former Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF) inspectors, two private security guards and the then Director of Border Services in Lisbon sit in the dock.
One of the SEF inspectors on trial says that he saw the Ukrainian tied up with adhesive tape and squirming, but thought it was a normal situation.
José Gaspar Schwalbach, lawyer for Ihor Homeniuk’s family, calls for zero tolerance:
“Right now, we have to say zero tolerance, what happened cannot happen again and any action of abuse of authorities cannot be covered up.”
The only one of the five defendants who wanted to speak at this first session was João Agostinho, a former SEF inspector.
He claims to have seen the Ukrainian lying on a mattress, his legs tied with what looked like normal adhesive tape.
He says he was moaning, but nothing out of the ordinary.
“None of the photographs show him being there when you were being handcuffed. We believe that all the evidence in the case suggests that he had no responsibility,” says João Nabais, João Agostinho’s lawyer.
In 2021, in the first trial related to the case, three SEF inspectors were sentenced to nine years in prison. They are serving their sentences in Évora. Not for murder, but for the offence of aggravated physical integrity.
Tragic death
Mr Homenyuk, a father of two, arrived in the Portuguese capital without a valid visa in March last year looking for work.
He was refused entry, and transferred to a detention centre after refusing to board a flight back home.
Two days later, he slowly suffocated after being left alone, face down on the floor with several broken ribs, his hands cuffed behind his back and legs tied together, according to a doctor who carried out the autopsy.
The guards had struck him with batons, causing him to die of asphyxiation, the Lisbon court heard.
His death has created a widespread outcry in Portugal, and calls from human rights campaigners for reforms to tackle abuses.
It eventually led to the breaking up of Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF) and its substitution by Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo (AIMA).