<![CDATA[ "Estou a ser condenado só por ser preto": condenado por morte em roubo ataca tribunal de Portimão ]]>

"I'm being convicted of a crime I didn't commit just because I'm Black." This was Igor Semedo's reaction after hearing his 12-year and six-month prison sentence for aggravated robbery resulting in death, which targeted José Souza, the owner of a Berlin ball factory, in Albufeira, in 2019. The defendant was, however, acquitted of murder. The second defendant, Aldair Silva, was acquitted of all charges.

The trial took place at the Portimão Court this Wednesday. According to Judge Pedro Frias, who presided over the jury, it was not proven that the two defendants acted together, but rather that Igor Lopes alone carried out the crime, with the intervention of another person whose identity "could not be determined."

According to the ruling, the death resulted from the various injuries inflicted by the attackers and the businessman's handcuffs, with adhesive tape around his mouth and neck.

The victim suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and the court did not prove that the attackers had intended the businessman's death as a result, which is why the charges of qualified homicide and failure to provide assistance to the 67-year-old victim were excluded.

The reading of the ruling was, however, marked by the defendant's untimely reaction, who asked to leave the room before the decision was finished reading, claiming that he was being "convicted of a crime he had not committed".

The defendant was warned by the judge that if he maintained the same stance, he would be guilty of disturbing a constitutional body. "What he said is despicable. I have nothing against Black people or Asian people," said the judge, visibly upset by the accusation of racism.