Month: June 2020

European Union member states today decided to reopen the external borders as of Wednesday to 15 countries whose epidemiological situation of covid-19 they consider satisfactory, excluding countries such as the United States and Brazil from this list. .

The list of third countries to which it will be allowed to resume “non-essential” travel to Europe, which has been discussed over the past few days by the ambassadors of the 27 in Brussels and today formally adopted by written procedure by the Member States, includes Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay and China, but in the latter case subject to confirmation of reciprocity, that is, when the Asian country reopens its borders to the EU.

As expected, given the current epidemiological situation, countries such as the United States, Russia and India and Brazil have not yet received a ‘green light’, with all Portuguese-speaking African countries remaining on the list ( PALOP) and Timor-Leste.

For third countries that continue to be restricted, EU citizens and family members, long-term residents in the Union and their families and travellers with special functions or needs will be exempt from them.

In a statement, the Council points out that the list, drawn up on the basis of a series of criteria – and adopted today by a qualified majority – will be reviewed every two weeks and may be updated, with travel restrictions possibly being lifted in whole or in part or reintroduced to a specific third country included in the list if there are changes in its epidemiological situation.

“If the situation in a country worsens rapidly, rapid decision-making will be applied,” says the EU Council.

In order to draw up this list of countries to allow connections to be resumed to Europe, criteria were determined, such as the number of cases of contagion in the last 14 days, and per 100,000 inhabitants, being identical or below the EU average, there is a stabilization or reduction in the trend of new cases in this period compared to the previous 14 days, and the global response to the pandemic, taking into account aspects such as the tests carried out, containment measures, surveillance and treatments.

The Council points out that the principle of reciprocity must also be taken into account, “on a regular basis and on a case-by-case basis”. In this first list, the reopening of the borders to China is thus dependent on the reopening of China’s borders to EU citizens.

Portugal and Spain will mark the reopening of their border, on Wednesday, with ceremonies at the highest level, in Badajoz and Elvas, with special political symbolism, bringing together the heads of state and government of the two Iberian countries.

The Portuguese-Spanish border was closed for three and a half months due to the covid-19 pandemic, with crossing points exclusively intended for the transport of goods and for cross-border workers.

Hours after the reopening, on Wednesday morning, the official ceremonies will take place, with the participation of the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, of the King of Spain, Felipe VI, of the Portuguese Prime Minister, António Costa, and the head of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, first in Badajoz, and then in Elvas, in the district of Portalegre.

According to the program released today, at 9:30 am in Portugal (10:30 am in Spain) there will be a ceremony at the Archaeological Museum of Badajoz, in which the hymns of both countries will be performed and there will be a family photo. Fifteen minutes later, a similar ceremony will take place at the Castle of Elvas.

The Spanish Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism, Reyes Maroto, began by announcing the reopening of the borders with Portugal for June 22, an announcement to which the Portuguese Government reacted with surprise, and then it was agreed on July 1.

PRIME MINISTER UNVEILS NEW MEASURES FOLLOWING THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS MEETING

Most of the country will move on July 1 to a situation of alert due to the pandemic of covid-19, with the exception of the Metropolitan Area of ​​Lisbon, announced today the Prime Minister.

At a press conference held at the end of the Council of Ministers meeting, António Costa said that most of the country will move from a calamity situation to an alert, while the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) will move to a “contingency situation” (intermediate level) and 19 parishes of AML maintain the “situation of calamity”.

For most of the country, which will pass the alert situation at 00:00 on July 1, António Costa underlined that “it does not mean returning to pre-Covid normality”.

In view of the growth in the number of infected with covid-19 in municipalities in the metropolitan area of ​​Lisbon, the Government decided on special measures for 19 parishes, involving the municipalities of Amadora, Odivelas, Sintra, Loures and Lisbon.

These parishes maintain a situation of calamity, however, in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area  the state is lowered to a situation of contingency. The rest of the country moves to a situation of alert (the lowest of those established in the  Basic Law  of Civil Protection.. Generally speaking, mitigation measures will be in force to July 12.

The measures for 19 AML parishes (Freguesias) are:

– Civic duty of home confinement (remaining at home except for essential reasons)

– Banned fairs and marketplaces

– Gatherings limited to 5 people

– Reinforcement of surveillance of mandatory confinements by joint Civil Protection, Social Security and Community Health teams

– Healthy Neighbourhoods Programme (a programme to be coordinated by Helena Roseta).

Rest of the AML are those measure announced on 22nd June

These measures are in addition to those approved for the rest of the Metropolitan Area (which has “fallen” from a calamity to a contingency situation). Please see the SCP page here

– Closure of commercial establishments at 20h00 (except: in catering for meal service and take-away; super and hypermarkets (until 22h00); fuel supply; clinics, offices and vets; pharmacies; funeral homes; sports equipment

– Ban on selling alcohol at petrol stations

– Gatherings limited to 10 people

The decision was announced, this Thursday, by António Costa, after the meeting of the Council of Ministers.

The 19 parishes affected by the duty of confinement are six in the municipality of Amadora and four in Odivelas. In the municipality of Lisbon, the only parish is Santa Clara and, in the municipality of Loures, two parish unions are at stake: Sacavém and Prior Velho, and Camarate, Unhos and Apelação.

In Sintra, there are the parish unions of Queluz / Bela’s, Massamá / Monte Abraão, Cacém / São Marcos, Agualva / Mira Sintra, Algueirão / Mem Martins and the parish of Rio de Mouro.

In addition, there will be a strengthening of surveillance of mandatory confinements by joint Civil Protection, Social Security and Community Health teams.

In mainland Portugal as a whole (which will go from a situation of calamity to a situation of alert) the rules will be as follows:

– Mandatory confinement for patients and persons under active surveillance

– Rules on physical distance, mask use, occupancy, schedules and hygiene are maintained

– Gatherings limited to 20 people

– Prohibition of alcohol consumption on public roads.

– Fines of 100 to 500 euros (individuals) and of one thousand to five thousand euros (corporations).

Weekly Crime Prevention and Enforcement Report – 25^th June 2020

El Pibe” investigation: 12 people have been charged with crimes of trafficking in human beings

The Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action has brought charges against 12 people, charging them with crimes of human trafficking, criminal association, forgery of documents and money laundering, following an investigation by SEF, into a criminal network, who had been operating for several years in the Aveiro / Albergaria-a-Velha area and lived off the sexual exploitation of several Romanian women, who prostituted themselves on the public road.

As part of the “El Pibe” operation, which took place on June 4, 2019, when preventive detention was imposed on seven of the defendants, SEF carried out eight arrest warrants, carried out 12 house searches and 12 car searches, having seized six vehicles, as well as gold, jewellry, money and false documents, during the operation, searches were made to two money transfer agencies as well as a travel agency.

This group that operated in Portugal, and in other countries of the European Union, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the victims, coming from unstructured families, with low economic incomes and deficient self-esteem, with episodes of domestic violence and consumption of alcohol and narcotics.

The alleged victims, all women, did not engage in the practice of prostitution of their own free will, were allegedly forced to prostitute themselves and deprived of their human dignity. According to the prosecution, they were allegedly exploited and used to earn money, to pay debts and “commissions” imposed by the leader of the criminal association, providing large financial earnings (around 70 thousand euros / year) to the exploiters.

Foreigner subject of arrest warrant identified in Faro with 4-year-old son

The Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF) have arrested a foreign citizen in Faro who was the subject of an extradition arrest warrant issued by Spain for the involvement of various crimes in the neighbouring country, some related to violent and serious crimes.

In a statement, SEF said that under the foreign citizen had been the subject “of a prison sentence of 4 ½ years for the crime of aggravated injuries which was suspended: a crime of domestic violence and prohibition of contact with the victim”.

The same source says, however, that the detainee was in Portugal accompanied by a child (4 years old), who had been “deprived of seeing his mother for approx. three months”.

Steps were taken by the Regional Directorate for the Algarve, with the collaboration of the Spanish authorities via the Castro Marim Police and Customs Cooperation Center and with the Faro Children and Youth Protection Commission, to locate the child who was returned to the parent who resides in Spain.

Elderly person “abandoned” at a bus stop in Viana was assisted by PSP

The CDU councillor in the Viana do Castelo Council, Cláudia Marinho, reported to the PSP the alleged “abandonment” of an elderly person in a wheelchair at a bus stop by a local Continuing Care Unit (UCC).

Cláudia Marinho stated to Lusa, “The situation of the elderly person, in a wheelchair, left next to the Areosa bus stop, around 11:00 am, was brought to my attention because of the fact that, due to the covid-19 pandemic, there is a reduction in public transport and that many buses do not have accessibility for people with reduced mobility”

Cláudia Marinho, social worker at the Family Service Office (GAF) in Viana do Castelo, told Lusa that when approaching the elderly person, she learned that he was waiting for transport to the district of Porto, to the city of Gondomar, where he is from.

“In conversation with him, I learned that he was admitted to a care home in Bella Vida, in Areosa. He said that he had signed a term of responsibility to leave the home and that he had been transported to the bus stop by a nurse. I called the unit, nobody answered and notified the PSP”, she specified.

According to Rui Conde of the PSP the man was taken to the police station and having been provided with food, at around 18:00 Social Security went there to transport him to his residence in Gondomar”.

Exploiting isolation: offenders and victims of online child sexual abuse during the covid-19 pandemic

Video calls with friends and family, social media interaction, online games, educational use: during the corona lockdown children’s lives promptly shifted even further from the real world into an online virtual one.

Sex offenders have found in this development a tempting opportunity to access a broader group of potential victims. The report published by Europol shines a light on the increased sharing of child sexual exploitation images online and how to confront this serious threat to children’s safety.

Download more details from EUROPOL here

https://www.europol.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/europol_covid_report-cse_jun2020v.3.pdf

Prime Minister announces more policemen in the streets and with more powers against illegal parties

The prime minister has announced that the government will pass legislation on Thursday that will allow police to reinforce their presence in the streets, with increased powers to prosecute organizers and participants in illegal parties.

This measure, which was advanced by António costa at a press conference, will be approved by the council of ministers today.

“We are going to approve a document that, providing for administrative offenses, will allow security forces to reinforce their presence on the street, but also the assessment of those who organize or participate in gatherings that are not allowed,” he declared.

“Within the framework of the entry into force of the new law decree, PSP and GNR will also reinforce their presence on the street, not only for the educational function they have exercised, but also to act in case of need”, stressed António Costa, having close the Minister of Internal Administration, Eduardo Cabrita.

I am not going to say at this point what the value of fines to apply, but we have as a reference not to exceed the limits that would require the intervention of a law of the Assembly of the Republic. This way, the measure would take longer to be adopted”, justified the executive’s leader.

Quarteira – Arrested for drug trafficking

Faro’s Territorial Command, through the Criminal Investigation Core (NIC) of Loulé, on June 20, arrested a 37-year-old man, for drug trafficking, in Quarteira.

The arrest was carried out in connection with a drug trafficking investigation, started a year ago, with the suspected suspect in trafficking between intermediaries who in turn made direct sale to consumers.

The action involved two home search warrants and three in vehicles that made it possible to seize the following material: 523 individual doses of MDMA; 32 doses of cocaine; two precision scales; a laptop computer; two mobile phones and 1010 euros in cash.

The operation was also reinforced by the Quarteira Territorial Sub-Detachment.

Loulé – Competition bicycle recovered

The Faro Territorial Command, through the Criminal Investigation Center (NIC) of Loulé, yesterday, June 23, recovered a professional bicycle and a spare wheel.

The bike was stolen in November 2018 in the Seixal area, and was recovered after a complaint that it was going to be sold in Loulé. The 37-year-old suspect was intercepted when he delivered the bike to the buyer in a street.

The bicycle has already participated in the “Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta” race, and is valued at 9000 euros. The wheel has a value of 800 euros and both items are part of the proceeds from the theft of sports equipment linked to cycling for a total value of 160 thousand euros.

The seller was constituted accused and the facts forwarded to the Seixal Judicial Court.

The President of the Republic stated today, in answer to questions from journalists, hat the situation in Portugal in the context of the covid-19 pandemic is “far from the pre-rupture or rupture scenarios” of the National Health Service (SNS), with a downward trend in the number of deaths.

At the end of the meeting with specialists to assess the epidemiological situation of covid-19 in Portugal, at Infarmed (Lisbon), the head of state explained that at “today’s long meeting there was, among others, a reflection on the results of the de-confinement carried out in three stages in the country”.

“The current reality shows that there has not been an increase in terms of trends of deaths, there is a relatively stable downward trend; with regard to hospitalized or intensive care patients, there has been a slight increase in recent days, in recent weeks, in a trend that is of stabilization of the decrease, far from the scenarios of pre-rupture or rupture as would happen in a scenario of doubling the number of those infected because of the de-confinements,” he argued.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also underlined that a comparative analysis was made with other countries, both in terms of the effects of the de-confinement and the number of tests performed.

“Portugal is in the group of five countries that have carried out the most tests per 100,000 inhabitants, which is not indifferent when comparing the number of infected”, he stressed.

The head of state pointed out that “there are countries that have a fifth, a fourth, or 60%” of the number of tests carried out in Portugal, “which have been increasing in these periods of de-confinement”.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa admitted that the complete effects of the de-confinement will only be visible “at the end of June, throughout July and perhaps in August”, recalling, nevertheless, that “it has been quite a while since the first de-confinement, at the beginning of May, a reasonable time in relation to the second, on May 18, and well over 14 days over the third, on June 1”.

“The predicted scenarios were many, some more positive, some less positive and some very worrying both in terms of deaths and pressure for the SNS,” he stressed.

In the analysis of the effects of the de-confinement in other European countries, it was found, according to the Head of State, that “practically all” have the rate of transmission of the virus ” either above 1 or below, but very close to 1″, and revealed that in Portugal this indicator (the R) is currently at 1.08.

The President of the Republic again stressed the importance of the “responsibility of each Portuguese” at this stage and recalled the “obvious concern that always preceded the measures taken, to safeguard life and health”.

“Looking at the evolution of the number of deaths, fortunately a favourable evolution, looking at the pressure on the SNS, until now without situations of stress or pre-stress”, he stressed.

The President of the Republic, Prime Minister and party leaders met today with experts to assess the epidemiological situation of covid-19 in Portugal, focusing on the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon, where most new cases have emerged.

This was the ninth technical meeting held at Infarmed – National Authority for Medicines and Health Products, in Lisbon, at the Prime Minister’s initiative, to share information, and another meeting has already been scheduled for 15 days from now.

Violent and serious crime rose 3% last year compared to 2018, with 14,398 violent crimes registered, 40 per day, according to data from the Annual Internal Security Reports which should be approved today.

According to the Annual Internal Security Report (RASI), which will be approved today by the Superior Council for Internal Security, there were more robberies on public roads, in shops, more kidnappings and kidnappings , more violations, more serious attacks and more carjackings (car thefts).

Crime in general has also risen, with more than 335,000 crimes recorded, up 0.7% (2,400) compared to 2018.

According to the report, thefts on public roads were the violent crimes that rose the most in 2019, with almost six thousand cases (627 more, + 11.8%).

Commercial robberies rose to 432 (29.8% more).

“Thefts in schools also went up: there were up by 32. Thefts, in different forms, added up to 75.9% of the total of serious and violent crimes. They have been decreasing since 2009”.

According to RASI, there were 661 serious attacks (82 more cases, + 14.2%) and last year there were 338 abductions and kidnappings up 65.

With regard to violations, 431 (+ 2.4%) were registered – this is the third consecutive year of increase in the numbers of this particular crime.

The crimes of voluntary homicide consummated in 2019 dropped to 89 (minus 21, -19.1%), still a higher value than 2016 (76) and 2017 (82), according to the report.

RASI also highlights the increase in juvenile delinquency (committed by young people between 12 and 16 years old). There are 1,568 records (more 86, + 5.8%), reversing the decrease of previous years.

As for domestic violence, the data indicate that it rose 11.4%, with 29,498 crimes registered in the category (plus 3015, + 11.4%).

Counterfeit-related crimes also increased considerably in 2019: 13,705 seizures (+ 45%), for a total of 1 million euros (+ 68%).

Computer fraud also rose, with 16,310 being reported last year (another 6,527, + 66.7%). There were 10,990 “other scams” (-4.7%).

The report also highlights an increase in simple assaults, with 23,279 registered last year (455 more, + 2%). Threat and coercion also: 15,136 (+ 5.1%).

RASI, quoted by the newspaper, also indicates that Castelo Branco (+ 20.7%), Portalegre (+ 10.5%), Faro (+ 8.3%) and Aveiro (+ 5.9%) are the districts to lead the rise of general crime.

It is also highlighted in the report that PSP, GNR, PJ, SEF and Maritime Police ended 2019 with 44,642 elements (45,522 in 2018). 1,284 policemen left and only 411 entered.

The 2019 Annual Homeland Security Report (RASI), a document in which crime statistics and police operational results are published, should have been released three months ago.

The Internal Security Law requires that RASI be sent to parliament by March 31, but the declaration of a state of emergency on the 18th of that month, because of the covid-19, led the prime minister’s office to request the suspension deadline.

At the beginning of the year, the Minister of Home Affairs said that preliminary data from RASI pointed to a further decline in violent crime in 2019.

In the RASI, an analysis and evaluation is carried out by the Superior Council for Internal Security – which includes, among others, all security forces and services, Armed Forces and respective supervisory ministers – and the strategic priorities for the following year are prepared.

Dismantled human trafficking network in Spain.

Spanish police dismantled an international organization dedicated to human trafficking and arrested 12 people, including the group’s leader, Cabecilha a Central African who lived between Portugal and Germany,

According to a press release published by the Spanish Civil Guard (corresponding to the Portuguese GNR), most of the detainees are of Sub-Saharan and Moroccan origin.

During the operation searches were carried out mainly in Spain, with three being carried out in Portugal, two in Germany and one person was detained in the Netherlands.

Since the beginning of the investigation, nearly 1,000 victims, including women and children, have been identified, seized two kilograms of marijuana and it is estimated that more than 500,000 euros have been confiscated.

The operation began in 2018, when Civil Guard agents detected that a “large number of undocumented immigrants” were being transferred to France under duress.

The victims were mostly African migrants, among whom it was common to find minors and pregnant women who were recruited in their countries of origin to work irregularly and precariously in Spain, from where they were later taken to France, Belgium and Germany for a fee of 500 to 750 euros. To guarantee payment, offenders often took advantage of the extreme vulnerability in which migrants found themselves, even going so far as to abandon a child who could not pay the full amount required for passage.

A part of this organisation had their headquarters in Spain and was composed mainly of sub-Saharan citizens who lived in the province of Lérida and was headed by the head of the organization in Spain, from the city of Roselló (Catalonia).

According to the Spanish Civil Guard, “the leader at the international level”, known as “the chief”, was an individual of Central African origin, residing in Portugal and Germany. This individual had a history of being involved in irregular immigration activity in other European countries and boasted 25 years of experience in this activity. To increase profits, “the boss” created a business and real estate structure, which allowed him to also attract Asian immigrants (usually Nepalese, Hindus, Pakistanis), who moved from Germany to the Iberian Peninsula, mostly to Portugal.

The network organized ‘non-stop’ trips across the Iberian Peninsula-Germany, using rented vans or one of the organization’s 12 vehicles on behalf of others, which they filled with migrants and fuel barrels, maximizing per trip profits.

Suspects detained in the Azores for trafficking and production of ‘Crystal Meth’

Four suspects were seized at a clandestine amphetamine manufacturing laboratory, 144 doses of drugs, several vehicles and a “high value” recreational vehicle were seized.

APSP detained four men, aged between 34 and 45, this Sunday, on the island of São Jorge, in the Azores, involved in the criminal activity of drug trafficking and production of narcotic products.

In a statement sent to Notícias ao Minuto, PSP clarifies that the seized drug is commonly called ‘Crystal Meth’.

During the three house searches and one non-resident search, the authorities seized several objects related to the production of the above-mentioned product, a clandestine laboratory for the manufacture of amphetamines, as well as 144 doses of narcotics.

Several vehicles and a recreational vessel of high value were also apprehended, due to suspicions of being related to the crime.

The detainees will be presented at a judicial hearing where they will be served with adequate disciplinary measures fitting their crimes.

PSP performed blood donations for the Portuguese Blood Institute

June 14 was World Blood Donor Day and the PSP, setting an example of citizenship, held a blood collection session, promoted by the Portuguese Institute for Blood and Transplantation, IP (IPST) – Lisbon Blood and Transplantation Centre, at the headquarters of the Special Police Unit, in Belas.

The PSP informs that: “they donated along with the, UEP police, PSP’s Criminal Investigation Department and the Symphonic Band. Despite the contingencies resulting from the current pandemic situation, it was possible to adjust the security protocols with the IPST and ensure the success of the blood donation.

Considering the huge turnout, a new session has already been scheduled. ‘To give blood is to offer life”.

PSP seeks to identify those involved in vandalism

PSP criminal investigation teams were mobilized to collect evidence that could lead to the identification of the perpetrators of the act of vandalism of the statue of Padre António Vieira, in Lisbon. Damage to monuments constitutes a public crime and the process will be forwarded to the Public Ministry.

Criminal investigation teams from the Public Security Police (PSP) carried out an investigation this Thursday in the Largo Trindade Coelho area in Lisbon, where a statue of Father António Vieira was vandalized, a COMETLIS source told Lusa.

According to the source of the Lisbon Metropolitan Command of the PSP (COMETLIS), “there was a projection of red paint” on the figures of Father António Vieira and three children, who make up the set of sculptures, and the word ” Decolonizes “at the base of the monument.

According to the same source, after the media alert, PSP criminal investigation teams were mobilized, who took steps on the spot “to collect more and better evidence” that could lead to the identification of the perpetrators.

PSP and Tomar veterinary services collect eight dogs

The Environmental Protection Brigade of the PSP of the Tomar Police Division and the municipal veterinary services of the Câmara de Tomar carried out a joint operation on Tuesday, June 16, where they detected several irregularities with several dogs.

During the awareness-raising and inspection action aimed at legalizing and vaccinating dogs in the city of Tomar, the agents collected eight dogs that they found in unacceptable conditions in addition to the dogs collected, the authorities made several notifications to regularize the situation of dogs that did not have a chip, nor vaccines up to date.

The Government today approved a one-month extension of the simplified lay-off, until the end of July, and new support for the resumption of activity that will be in effect from August and until the end of the year.

The measures were foreseen in the Economic Stabilization Program (PEES), created in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic and approved two weeks ago by the Council of Ministers.

The simplified lay-off, which foresees the suspension of the employment contract or the reduction of working hours and the payment of two thirds of the normal gross remuneration, financed 70% by Social Security and 30% by the company, initially ended in June but was extended until the end of July.

As of August, the simplified lay-off will continue to be possible only for companies that remain closed due to legal obligation.

For the remaining companies in difficulties due to the pandemic, new support is planned from August with a view to the gradual resumption of activity, without the possibility of suspending the contract, but only to reduce working hours.

Thus, for companies that have a turnover drop between 40% and 60%, working hours can be reduced up to 50% between August and October, increasing to a maximum of 40% from then on and until the end of the year.

If the revenue breakdown exceeds 60%, the company can reduce workers’ hours by up to 70% from August and up to 60% from October.

The employer pays all hours worked and the State ensures 70% of those not worked.

With this new regime and taking into account the hours worked, as of August the worker starts to receive between 77% and 83% of his remuneration and, from October, between 88% and 92% of his salary.

The measure that replaces the simplified ‘lay-off’ has as its main assumptions “the progressive convergence of the worker’s remuneration to 100% of his salary” as well as the “payment by the company of all hours worked”, it can be read in the PEES.

In turn, companies that have benefited from the simplified ‘lay-off’ regime can have an extraordinary financial incentive to normalize business activity, choosing one of two modalities: a minimum wage (635 euros) paid once or two wages minimum payments over six months.

The new regime approved today by the Government also provides for the progressive reduction of the exemption from the Single Social Rate (TSU).

As of August, the large lay-off companies will pay TSU in full, while micro, small and medium-sized companies will maintain the exemption and, from October, they will pay 50% of the fee until the end of the year. end of year.

The extension of the simplified lay-off and the new support will cost 2.5 billion euros, said the Prime Minister, António Costa, in the presentation of the PEES two weeks ago.

The Council of Ministers also approved the stabilization complement, with the objective of providing extraordinary support to workers who had a reduction in income as a result of the pandemic.

This is a measure to be paid in July, in the amount of the loss of income of a month of lay-off, in an amount that can vary between 100 and 351 euros, to all workers with February income up to two minimum wages and who have registered a loss of base salary (that is, they have a base salary higher than the minimum wage), who were in ‘lay-off’ in one of the months between April and June.

The measure costs 70 million euros.

The President of the Republic acknowledged this Wednesday, in Figueiró dos Vinhos, that there is still much to do in terms of territorial cohesion in the municipalities most affected by the Pedrógão Grande fires of June 17, 2017.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who attended the religious celebrations that marked the three years of the tragedy that killed 66 people in that district of Leiria, said that “we would all wish” that the socio-economic development of the affected territories “would appear faster and more vigorously”.

“This has not always happened, despite the efforts made and, therefore, we must recognize that there is much more to be done, here in particular, for territorial cohesion, which is a bet for the future”, stressed the head of state.

For the President of the Republic, the fires of June 2017 represented a “lesson in territorial cohesion”, in that it served as a “call to attention for so many Portuguese who live far away and started to perceive and understand inequalities a little better, the asymmetries, the situation so discriminated, in economic and social terms, of parts of the national territory “.

The violent fire that broke out in the early afternoon of 17 June 2017, exactly three years ago, in the municipality of Pedrógão Grande, district of Leiria, caused the death of 66 people, in the deadliest fire recorded in Portugal.

Today, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, marked the date when he participated at 11:00 am in a mass in Figueiró dos Vinhos, a neighboring municipality to Pedrógão Grande and which was also hit by the flames.

Also the minister of Territorial Cohesion, Ana Abrunhosa, participates in the mass, in the church of the Convent of Nossa Senhora do Carmo.

The Pedrógão Grande fire also caused the destruction of half a thousand homes and 50 companies, in addition to hundreds of injured.

More than two thirds of the fatalities (47 people) were in vehicles and were surrounded by flames on the National Road 236-1, between Castanheira de Pera and Figueiró dos Vinhos, in the northern interior of the district of Leiria, or in access to that route.

Estimates made shortly after the fires indicated that damage to the forest would exceed 83 million euros, while damage to housing amounted to more than 27.6 million euros, in industry and tourism to close to 31.2 million euros. euros, in agriculture to 20 million euros and in other economic activities to more than 27.5 million euros.

The damage caused to municipal infrastructure was then estimated at around 20 million euros and on the national road network at around 2.6 million euros.

In October of the same year, several fires that mainly affected the Center region caused the death of 50 people.

The Council for the award of compensation to the victims of the Pedrógão Grande and October 2017 fires fixed, at the end of November of that year, the minimum value for life deprivation at 70 thousand euros.

The deaths caused by the Pedrógão fire led the Coimbra Department of Investigation and Criminal Action to open an investigation that investigated the responsibilities in the fire.

The process of rebuilding the burnt houses also led the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Coimbra to open an investigation.

The investigation resulted in an indictment against 28 defendants for the alleged practice of 20 crimes of fraud, 20 crimes of malfeasance of the holder of political office, 20 crimes of falsification of documents, a crime of computer fraud and a crime of false declarations.

On June 7, 2019, the Assembly of the Republic unanimously approved a draft resolution that enshrines June 17 as the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Forest Fires.