The two bosses would have participated in the attacks and are still accused by the Public Prosecutor’s Office of covering up the crimes. In total, 24 PSP agents have already been arrested in connection with the case.
There are two PSP chiefs suspected of direct participation in violent attacks on detainees in the case of the torture investigation at Esquadra do Rato, in Lisbon.
According to , the order from the Public Ministry (MP) states that the two graduates were on duty on different nights when the incident occurred. episodes of extreme violence against handcuffed men, some of whom were also victims of humiliating abuse and sodomization with batons. The prosecutor accuses the suspects of “taking advantage of the victims’ vulnerability” to attack them, “even displaying refinements of wickedness“.
In one of the cases investigated, two Egyptian citizens were arrested for allegedly interfering in the capture of a drug trafficking suspect. According to the indictment, the two men, who did not speak Portuguese, were attacked for more than an hour by several agents of the PSP while they remained handcuffed.
Among the suspects is chef Ricardo Magalhãesaccused of punching and kicking the victims. One of the detainees was allegedly beaten with boxing gloves, while some officers filmed the attacks with cell phones.
The videos were then shared in groups on WhatsApp where agents send messages encouraging aggression, such as “It’s a shame this faggot didn’t die” or “give him a ‘bue’, make a video of him putting the mop with shit in his mouth”.
The messages and videos ended up being discovered during the PSP’s internal investigation, after the seizure of deputy Guilherme Leme’s cell phonecurrently in preventive detention. The MP also maintains that Ricardo Magalhães not only did not prevent the attacks but also covered up the facts. During the investigation phase, 20 police officers were heard as witnesses, but only one indirectly incriminated his colleagues, and he was also later arrested.
Another of the arrested leaders is Pedro Paivasuspected of violently attacking a man arrested on suspicion of robbery by stretch. According to the investigation, the graduate and another agent allegedly beat the victim with punches, kicks and beatings. Videos of these attacks were reportedly shared on a WhatsApp group called “Grupo sem Gordos”, where an agent commented: “Lucky for him, boss Paiva was very gentle”.
The process gained a new dimension after the revelation of a still unknown case, which occurred in October 2023. A French citizen, approached after a report of domestic violence, was allegedly violently beaten by PSP agents before and after being taken to the police station. According to the MP, he suffered attacks for around six hours, was prevented from drinking water or using the bathroom and threatened by the agents, who said: “We know where you live” and “it doesn’t end here.”
The investigation also points to the falsification of arrest records, allegedly arranged “amongst laughter” by the agents involved. In total, there are now 24 police suspects of participation in episodes of violence that occurred between 2023 and 2025 at the Rato and Bairro Alto police stations, in addition to a private security guard also being accused.
