Sep. 5 () –
The Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action has accused two Iraqi citizens on Monday of belonging to the Islamic State jihadist group and of war crimes, the first time that the latter type of crime has been used in Portugal.
“The Prosecutor’s Office of the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action has decided to accuse two suspects of Iraqi nationality for crimes of belonging to a terrorist organization, war crimes against people and an accusation also of resistance and coercion of an official,” reported the organization in a note collected by the Portuguese newspaper ‘Diário de Notícias’.
These are two brothers who would have belonged to the religious police (Al Hisbá) and the intelligence services (Al Amniya) of the Islamic State during the domination of northern Iraq by this terrorist group, between 2014 and 2016.
The two Iraqis have been in Portugal since March 2017 and have been in preventive detention since September 2021, when they were arrested by the Portuguese Judicial Police.
The two had benefited from the EU refugee resettlement programme. One worked in a restaurant in Lisbon and was present during Prime Minister António Costa’s visit in January 2018. The restaurant was also visited in June 2018 by Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The investigation has had the collaboration of the Iraqi authorities, the US federal police (FBI), EUROPOL, the international coalition against the Islamic State (Operation Gallant Phoenix) and the Investigative Team for the Promotion of Accountability for Crimes Committed by Islamic State, a UN body.
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