Chief of Navy fined €816 for obstructing trial of military personnel
The Central Criminal Court of Lisbon has convicted the Chief of Staff of the Navy of €816 for failing to notify witnesses in time. The case involves three military personnel accused of breaching state secrecy in connection with the ship Mondego.
Court fines Admiral Nobre de Sousa for omission in Mondego case
The Central Criminal Court of Lisbon convicted on Tuesday the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Nobre de Sousa, to a fine of €816 for compromising the trial proceedings of three Navy military personnel accused of breaching state secrecy. According to expresso.pt, the decision is contained in a ruling to which the Lusa news agency had access.
The court determined that Nobre de Sousa failed to notify two military personnel summoned as witnesses for the second trial session, scheduled for Wednesday, in good time, and that the court was not informed in a timely manner of the obstacles to their attendance. The session was postponed without a new date being indicated.
"It is thus verified that such witnesses have not, once again, been notified and that they will not appear in this court," the ruling states.
Conduct classified as "reprehensible and unjustified"
The court found that the Navy's behaviour "seriously compromises the regular functioning of this court's service" and "intensely affects the image of efficiency, responsiveness and rigour that the citizen expects of both institutions" — the court and the Armed Forces. The ruling adds that the conduct "constitutes an attempt to undermine the duty of compliance with judicial orders and the authority of the courts" and constitutes "an equally intolerable obstruction of the administration of justice".
Taking into account the "gravity of his omission, lack of diligence and obstruction of the proceedings", Nobre de Sousa was convicted to eight units of account, equivalent to €816.
Defence seeks detention of witnesses
The lawyers for the three military defendants, Paulo Graça and António Garcia Pereira, informed Lusa that they will request that the fine be borne by the Navy chief himself, and not by the institution. They also intend to request "the detention of the two witnesses so that they may be brought under detention to court on the new date to be set".
This is already the second postponement of the second trial session, which had originally been scheduled for 6 May and was postponed because one of the witnesses was on a mission. At that time, the court had already pointed to the Navy's lack of cooperation.
The case of the ship Mondego
On 11 March 2023, 13 military personnel refused to carry out a mission to monitor a Russian ship in the Madeira archipelago, citing safety concerns aboard the NRP Mondego. The episode generated two separate proceedings: one involving three of the military personnel for breaching state secrecy — whose trial is already underway — and another concerning the 13 for insubordination, still in the investigation phase. At the time, the position of Chief of Staff of the Navy was held by Gouveia e Melo.
The trial of the three military personnel began on 22 April, with the court rejecting the defence's request to remove the military judge from the panel. For the Public Prosecution Service, the defendants publicly disclosed reserved information about the condition of the ship, "knowing the confidential nature of the data".
The prosecution contends that the three military personnel "knew that the documents they drew up contained restricted, reserved and classified information about the non-compliance, location, mission and operational limitations of the NRP Mondego", describing their actions as "reckless, careless and negligent".
Investigation still ongoing for the 13 military personnel
Regarding the parallel proceedings, the Public Prosecution Service argued that the NRP Mondego "had the capacity to put to sea, albeit under some degraded conditions", including cracks in the deck, an inoperational engine and a breakdown in the cooling pump. The Public Prosecution Service further maintains that, should "conditions prove impossible for carrying out the mission, the commander could decide to return to port".
Source: Google News PT — Crime (pt)