“Fortunately, they [the images] were seen in good time by the judicial authorities. These are images that are more than two years old and this criminal investigation has been carried out by the Judiciary Police, by the Public Ministry for more than two years. It shows that, obviously, nobody is above the law, and behaviour of this nature is absolutely unacceptable, whether by the security forces or by anyone”, said António Costa.

The head of Government spoke in statements to RTP and Antena1, stressing that "it is not possible to accept this type of behaviour".

“I also know that some of these agents have already been punished, one of them even with the penalty of expulsion from the GNR. Therefore, the General Inspection of the Internal Administration also acted and also took measures”, the prime minister added.

For António Costa, who did not see the images, which were described to him, “no one who has seen these images can have any other feeling” than one of disgust.

Seven GNR officers are accused of a total of 33 crimes, for humiliating and torturing immigrants in Odemira, Beja, in 2019, acts that they themselves filmed, reported CNN/TVI.

On 16 December, the GNR clarified that two of the seven officers are serving a suspension sentence decreed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the others await sanction measures.

According to the GNR, three of the agents of the Territorial Detachment of Odemira are repeat offenders, after having been "involved in aggression against Indonesian individuals" in 2018.

The clarification comes after a CNN/TVI investigation that revealed the accusation of seven GNR officers of a total of 33 crimes, for humiliating and torturing immigrants in Odemira.

In a November 10 indictment to which CNN Portugal and TVI had access, the Public Prosecutor's Office states that the police officers committed the acts of torture “in a manifest excessive use of the power of authority” and that “all the defendants acted with satisfaction and contempt for individuals”.