Supreme rejects appeal of Afonso Dias on the kidnapping of Rui Pedro

My friends, this was taken from Jornal de Notícias newspaper:

http://www.jn.pt/PaginaInicial/Seguranca/Interior.aspx?content_id=3568912&page=-1

Supreme rejects appeal of Afonso Dias on the kidnapping of Rui Pedro

The Supreme Court rejected the appeal by examining Afonso Dias , who was convicted by the Oporto , three and a half years in jail after the Court of Lousada having acquitted of the kidnapping of Rui Pedro .

The Supreme rejected the appeal on the fact that Afonso Dias have been sentenced to a prison sentence of less than five years , cases that are no longer appreciated by that court.

to JN , Paulo Gomes , told on Wednesday it will complain that decision to the President of the Supreme Court on the understanding that the date of the decision at Oporto , appeals to the Supreme for lower sentences to five years were eligible . The lawyer also believes that the Supreme has to take into account the facts that date back to 1998 .

If the Chief Justice considers rejecting the request of Paulo Gomes , the lawyer admits appeal to the Constitutional Court, which has suspensive effect . The appeal will therefore allow Afonso Dias remain free until that decision , it can still take several months to be known .

In March , the Court of Appeal of Porto which condemned Afonso Dias to a term of three and a half years of actual imprisonment for kidnapping the small Rui Pedro of Lousada . Appealed that decision and a judge of Appeal issued an order explaining that the appeal should be allowed by the Supreme as it has not been confirmed the first instance decision ( Afonso Dias was acquitted in Lousada ) and applied an effective prison sentence ( second instance by the Oporto ) .

Unlike judges at Lousada, that dismissed the testimony of the prostitute Alcina Dias, because Alcina identified Afonso as the adult who brought the child, only during the trial and not during the investigation , the appeal of Porto believed that it was possible to " establish a judgment of certainty about the lowest lead by Afonso Dias to the presence of Alcina Days to have sex . "

Rui Pedro is still at large, 15 years later.

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also taken from The Public newspaper:

http://www.publico.pt/sociedade/noticia/supremo-recusou-apreciar-recurso-da-condenacao-no-caso-rui-pedro-1614944

Supreme refused to appreciate appeal of the sentence about Rui Pedro

Lawyer of Afonso Dias , condemned for the kidnapping of the minor, will complain to President of Supreme Justice Court and admits appeal to the Constitutional Court .

The Supreme Court of Justice refused to consider the appeal filed by the defense of the accused Afonso Dias sentenced in March this year by at Oporto Court to three years and six months in prison for the kidnapping of Rui Pedro , the boy Lousada disappeared in 1998 . The conviction occurred a few months after the Court of Lousada have acquitted the accused in the same case .

The information was confirmed to PUBLIC on Tuesday by the lawyer Afonso Dias , Paulo Gomes , who says surprised by the decision and said that will complain to the Chief . The judge rapporteur of the Sections of Criminal rejected allow the appeal , arguing that Afonso Dias was sentenced to a term of imprisonment less than five years , decisions that are no longer considered by the Supreme .

"For us, this decision is a surprise even to the extent that the prosecutor ruled by the admission of the appeal . Moreover , this interpretation to be valid , the defendant would have been convicted of a decision that was not subject to appeal ," he maintained . defender Afonso Dias He adds : " If the Chief Justice upholds the decision , we will appeal to the Constitutional Court ."

Have Ricardo Sá Fernandes , lawyer of the parents of Rui Pedro , said he hoped the decision " due to the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court " that stresses eventually enshrined in the latest revision to the Criminal Procedure Code , which entered into force in March this year . " Under current law this was the only possible solution," he says.

The attorney points out, however , that I personally would prefer that the law adopt another solution , admitting appeal to the Supreme whenever there was a conflict between the decision of the first instance and the relationship , regardless of the crime and the sentence imposed . " The consecrated now is not the best solution ," considers Ricardo Sá Fernandes .

Paulo Gomes believes that the new law is unconstitutional , noting that both the Oporto as the Public Prosecutor at the Supreme argued that in this case the appeal should be allowed . " Moreover , the judgment of the relationship predates the entry into force of the new law and how everyone knows this case relates to events that occurred in 1998 , when the code allowed appeal to the Supreme " , emphasizes the lawyer of the accused .

Rui Pedro disappeared on March 4, 1998 , when he was 11 and never appeared .