The Supreme Administrative Court (STA) declared the unlawfulness of the sanctions applied by the Navy to the NRP Mondego military personnel following the failed 2023 mission, and the military’s defense admits to seeking compensation for moral damages.
The STA ruling, dated April 30 and published today on the court’s official website, dismisses the Navy’s appeal, which contested a previous decision by the South Central Administrative Court (TCA), which had already considered null and void the sanctions applied to the 11 military personnel targeted in this process (out of the 13 accused of insubordination), by the Navy, at the time led by the then Chief of the Navy General Staff, Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo.
According to the STA, the disciplinary sanctions process contains several defects and flaws that result in the “nullity of the disciplinary sanction decision due to procedural defects”.
Contacted by Lusa, the lawyer for the 11 soldiers, António Garcia Pereira, said that the decision, as it is a final decision and, therefore, a definitive decision, means that no negative effects of the sanctions applied can remain, recalling that the days of suspension were served and that there is “a stain” on the record of these soldiers associated with this process.
Garcia Pereira wants to ensure that the biographical records of these military personnel are cleared of information relating to sanctions and the reimbursement of amounts owed and unpaid as a result of the suspension from service, which was complied with.
The defense intends to ensure the “accountability of the hierarchy”, which in this specific case, is headed by Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who at the time of the events traveled to the island of Madeira, where the patrol vessel was on a mission, to publicly reprimand the military personnel who refused to carry out the assigned mission.
Garcia Pereira considered it “very likely” that he would file a claim for compensation, particularly for moral damages.
The lawyer explained that the STA confirmed the nullities pointed out in the disciplinary process by the TCA Sul — the appointment as an instructing officer of the disciplinary process of a military officer involved in the facts that gave rise to the disciplinary process; the lack of information to the defendants, namely the right to be heard in the presence of a lawyer; and additional evidentiary procedures of which the defense was not notified.
To these nullities, the STA added one more to justify its decision: the nullity of rejecting, without legal basis, testimonial evidence presented by the defense, violating the rights of the defendants.
In February, the STA definitively rejected the precautionary measure of the other two sanctioned military personnel, who also contested the sentences applied, but the main case is still awaiting a decision, said Garcia Pereira.
In the criminal proceedings on this case, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) considered that the risk of the failed mission of the NRP Mondego, in 2023, was low, even though it acknowledged that the ship had cracks and an inoperative engine.
On March 11, 2023, the NRP Mondego failed a mission to escort a Russian ship north of the island of Porto Santo, in the Madeira archipelago, after four sergeants and nine enlisted men refused to board, citing security reasons.
The Navy reported the incident to the Military Judicial Police in Lisbon, as part of a criminal investigation, and instituted disciplinary proceedings.