The Supreme Administrative Court (STA) declared the illegality of the sanctions applied by the Navy to the military of the NRP Mondego following the failed mission of 2023, and the defence of those accused admits to asking for compensation for moral damages.
The STA’s ruling, dated the 30th of April, and released today on the court’s official website, dismisses the Navy’s appeal, which challenged a previous decision, of the Central Administrative Court (TCA) South, which had already considered null and void the sanctions applied to the 11 soldiers targeted in this case (of the 13 accused of insubordination), by the Navy, at the time led by the then Chief of Staff of the Navy Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo.
According to the STA, the disciplinary sanctions process contains several defects and flaws that result in the “nullity of the disciplinary sanctioning decision due to procedural defects.”
Contacted by Lusa, the lawyer for the 11 soldiers, António Garcia Pereira, said that the decision is final, and means that no negative effects of the sanctions applied can remain, recalling that the days of suspension have been fulfilled and that there is “a stain” on the accused service records.
Garcia Pereira wants to see that it is guaranteed that the service records of these soldiers are cleared of information regarding sanctions and reimbursement of amounts due and not paid as a result of the suspension of service, which was complied with.
The defence wants to see the “accountability of the hierarchy” guaranteed, which in this specific case, has at the top Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who at the time of the facts went to the island of Madeira, where the patrol ship was on a mission, to publicly reprimand the military who refused to fulfill the assigned mission.
Garcia Pereira considered it “very likely” to move forward with a request for compensation, namely for moral damages.
The lawyer explained that the STA confirmed the nullities pointed out to the disciplinary process by the TCA Sul – the appointment as an officer investigating the disciplinary process of a military man involved in the facts that gave rise to the disciplinary process; the lack of information for the defendants, namely the right to be heard in the presence of a lawyer; and complementary steps of evidence of which the defence was not notified.
To these nullities, the STA added one more to justify its decision: the nullity of rejecting without legal basis testimonial evidence presented by the defense, violating the rights of the defendants.
In February, the STA definitively rejected the injunction of the other two sanctioned soldiers, who also contested the sentences applied, but the main case is still awaiting a decision, Garcia Pereira said.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) considered that the risk of the failed mission of the NRP Mondego, in 2023, was low, although it recognised that the ship had cracks and an inoperable engine.
On the 11th of March 2023, the NRP Mondego failed to accompany a Russian ship sailing on the north coast of Porto Santo. The reason the ship did not leave harbour was that 13 crewmembers refused to sail as they considered the ship unseaworthy.
The Navy reported what happened to the Military Judicial Police in Lisbon, as part of a criminal investigation, and initiated disciplinary proceedings.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
