Government · Lisbon and Funchal
Lisbon court acquits three Portuguese Navy sailors over NRP Mondego secrecy case
The court found the documents were not classified by a competent authority, so state secrecy did not apply. A separate insubordination case against 13 sailors is still at the investigation stage.
In brief
The Lisbon Central Criminal Court acquitted the three Navy men on Wednesday, 21 October, ruling that the information in their documents was not classified by a competent authority.
Judge Tânia Gomes said it was not proven that the men aimed to make the NRP Mondego's technical limitations public, and that state interests or security were not put at risk.
13 sailors who refused a mission to accompany a Russian ship in the Madeira archipelago are accused of insubordination, and that case is at the instruction stage.
The verdict
The three Portuguese Navy sailors charged with violating state secrecy were acquitted on Wednesday, 21 October, by the Lisbon Central Criminal Court. The presiding judge, Tânia Gomes, described the prosecution's accusation as ill-considered. The case concerns the NRP Mondego, a Portuguese Navy ship, and a March 2023 episode in which the three men refused, together with ten other sailors, to board the vessel. The reading of the judgment had been scheduled for 14:00 that day.
What the court found
Judge Tânia Gomes said the court had not proven that the three men aimed to publicise information in the media, or that they intended to make the ship's technical limitations public. The court also found that the interests and security of the state had not been put at risk. Two of the three men had created documents using the Mondego's onboard computer, and these were sent to the sergeants' and petty officers' associations. However, the information in those documents had not been classified by a competent authority, which meant it was not confidential and therefore not covered by state secrecy.
The prosecution and the defence
Prosecutors had argued that the three men knew the documents contained restricted, reserved and classified information on the ship's failure, location, mission and operational limits, and that this information could not be disclosed. The indictment described their conduct as ill-considered, careless and passive. The defence, led by lawyer António Garcia Pereira, called the accusation contradictory and said there was no proof that the defendants were responsible for releasing the information.
“This is a case that has been shaped from the beginning.”
The defence also filed an opinion by law professor Rui Pereira, who concluded that the men had not committed the crime of violating state secrecy. According to that opinion, the defendants did not pose a danger to national independence, the integrity of the state, or internal or external security. It added that seeking advice and information from a socio-professional association was the exercise of a right, which made the defendants' conduct justified.
Appeal and a separate case
Both the defence and prosecutors can still appeal the first-instance decision. A second case, currently at the investigation stage before the instruction court, involves 13 sailors who refused to carry out an escort mission for a Russian ship in the Madeira archipelago. They have been accused of insubordination. In that accusation, prosecutors argued that the Mondego was able to put to sea, though with degraded conditions, including cracks in the deck, an inoperative engine and a fault in the engine's cooling pump. Prosecutors also said that if conditions made the mission impossible, the commander could decide to return to port.