The arrests took place almost a month after the events of dawn on 21 December in Bragança, in which a disagreement in a bar was the source of the aggression.

Cape Verdean student Giovani Rodrigues was found alone in the street and died 10 days later in a hospital in Porto.

With the death, at dawn on 31 December, the case went to the Judiciary Police, who said that they carried out, on Thursday, 16 January, "house searches, inquiries and interrogations of various people suspected of being involved in the events that led to the death of that young man."

"Following this operational action involving investigators and experts from the Judicial Police, five men, aged 22 to 35, were arrested and relevant evidence was seized," it said in a statement.

The PJ also states that “the investigation has been conducted in close articulation with the Public Ministry of Bragança, holder of the Inquiry”.

The detainees will be present for judicial interrogation, which should take place in the Bragança court, the time being unknown, and the PJ also states that "further clarification will be provided" in due course.

The young Cape Verdean had arrived just over a month ago to study at the Mirandela School of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB).

On the night of the events, Giovani Rodrigues went out with three friends and in the Lagoa Azul bar one of the members of the group had a quarrel with another man, as confirmed by that commercial establishment, stressing that the victim was not involved.

Giovani's friends reported that after leaving the bar, a group of “about 15 people” were waiting ahead of them, already on Avenida Sá Carneiro, and they started to attack the person that was involved in the disagreement.

According to the reports, Giovani and the rest of his friends tried to stop the feud and he was hit with a thud in the head.

The young Cape Verdean was found more than a mile further, alone and fallen lifeless in the street.

Bragança firefighters confirm that they were called for a case of “intoxication”, the technical term used in the medical emergency for situations involving excess alcohol, among others.

Only when the relief team observed the young man did they realise that he had a bruise on his head. The victim was transported to the Bragança hospital, which warned the PSP that she had signs of aggression.

From Bragança he was transferred to the Santo Antonio hospital in Porto, where he died at dawn on 31 December.

PSP's national management has issued a statement, however, that in the early hours of the facts, on 21 December, a Bragança patrol was called in for disagreement at a bar, not the initial one, but another, a few metres ahead, on avenue Sá Carneiro.

They found two young people, other than Cape Verdeans, who told him they were beaten but did not want to complain or receive hospital treatment.

PSP reports that it has immediately begun to search and identify possible parties involved in the disagreements.

According to explanations from the national board, another patrol found the Cape Verdean student alone and inanimate with the alcohol-scented vomit on his clothes.

The PSP confirms that it was warned by the Bragança hospital that the victim they had found had signs of aggression.

With the death of the student, on 31 December, the case went to the Judiciary Police, specifically to the Department of Criminal Investigation of Vila Real, since there are no PJ in Bragança.

That police announced the arrest of five suspects involved in the Cape Verdean death, which has prompted reactions in their home country with calls for clarification of what happened and for those responsible to be punished.