September 7 () –
Five dangerous inmates from the Vale dos Judeus prison in Alcoentre, in the Lisbon region, escaped from jail on Saturday morning, apparently with outside help.
Specifically, someone threw a ladder from outside the facilities, which allowed them to overcome the wall and exit the prison, according to a press release from the General Directorate of Reintegration and Penitentiary Services.
In accordance with established protocol, the police were informed “to recapture the fugitives” and an internal investigation has been opened by the Audit and Inspection Service coordinated by the Prosecutor’s Office.
The president of the National Union of the Penitentiary Guard Corps, Frederico Morais, has explained that the recordings from the security cameras show that they had external help. “They had help from outside, from three individuals, two who placed the ladder, because the prison wall is about six metres high, and another who was waiting in a car,” he said, according to the newspaper ‘Público’.
The union was alerted at midday about the disappearance of two of the inmates. “This is because of the Portuguese State, which has cut spending. Before there were watchtowers where there was always a guard, but in 2017-2018 the State decided to dismantle the towers due to a lack of guards and to install video surveillance cameras, but the cameras do not follow anyone,” he argued.
There are about 120 guards assigned to the prison, but between 20 and 30 are on duty in relation to the “almost 500 inmates,” said Morais, who warned that the escapees are “five extremely dangerous inmates.”
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