Evora, Portugal, Aug. 1, 2025 (Lusa) - The national director of Portugal's Public Security Police, Luís Carrilho, said on Friday that the homicides that occurred this week in Greater Lisbon "are clearly isolated cases," stressing that the country being safe "does not mean there is zero crime."
“When we say that Portugal is a safe country, it does not mean that there is zero crime,” Luís Carrilho told the Lusa news agency on the sidelines of the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the Évora District Command of the Public Security Police (PSP) in the Alentejo city.
He was asked about the cases of a man found decapitated in central Lisbon and the death of another following a brawl in the district of Sintra, both of which occurred this week.
According to the national director of the PSP, “both cases are clearly isolated incidents”.
“Unfortunately, there are other isolated cases,” he stressed.
Luís Carrilho argued that, in general, “public spaces in Portugal are safe”, pointing out that one of the reasons why a large number of tourists visit the country and others choose to live there “is safety”.
“But when you live in freedom, with enhanced rights, and there is more than one person, there are situations of conflict and, in these situations of conflict, it is sometimes impossible to prevent crimes from being committed,” he said.
The PSP, added the national director of the force, "has a preventive attitude" in a wide range of areas, but "when prevention is not possible, it represses, identifies the perpetrators of crimes and brings them to justice".
The body of a 34-year-old man was found decapitated in the early hours of Wednesday behind the Coliseu de Lisboa, and the suspect, a 29-year-old man, was arrested by the Judiciary Police (PJ, the country's main criminal investigation agency) after turning himself in at a hospital.
In the early hours of Thursday, in Belas, in the district of Sintra, a 50-year-old man was stabbed to death by another man, aged 38, who was arrested on the same day, also by the PJ.
SM/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
