In a statement to the Lusa agency, Varela de Matos, one of the lawyers, told Lusa that the group, which includes a dozen citizens, namely lawyers, non-lawyers and retired magistrates, consider that the crime that the citizen has committed "is not the one that is most frequently referred to (attempted murder), but that of abandonment, which does not carry pre-trial detention".

"None of the presuppositions established by law was verified and therefore we conclude that imprisonment is absolutely illegal and that the State intervened with its punitive function and not with its welfare function, which is what it should have done,” explained Varela de Matos.

By law, the Supreme Court of Justice has eight days to decide on a habeas corpus.

The baby was found in a dumpster in the Alcântara area of Lisbon on Tuesday of last week, still with traces of the umbilical cord.

The 22-year-old, homeless mother was arrested, heard on Friday in the first judicial questioning and is awaiting trial in pre-trial detention, accused of attempted murder.

Also on Friday, in declarations to the Lusa agency, the president of the child support institute, Dulce Rocha, also defended that the crime in question is that of " abandonment" and not attempted murder.

According to Dulce Rocha, the mother was in a vulnerable situation that led her to abandon her son: "This mother is very alone, very desperate, without family support".

The president of the IAC also argues that "there are no signs", such as injuries or signs of asphyxiation, which point to attempted murder.