Portugal’s President today said that the Iraqi ambassador to Portugal could not remain in office and agreed with the government that the Ponte de Sor case now will have to go to Baghdad.
"From the information I have, I cannot help but agree with the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs," said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The Foreign Minister stated earlier today that Iraq has withdrawn its ambassador, Saad Mohammed Ridha, following the protracted row over the assault by the ambassador’s twin sons on Ruben Cavaco in Ponte de Sor last August
Rebelo da Sousa (pictured) agreed with the words of the Foreign Minister, Augusto Santos Silva, when he said he understood "that the Portuguese authorities have done everything they should have done so far, and will continue to do, in a case of democratic law on the one hand, and respect for the rules of diplomacy on the other."
The announcement of the ambassador's withdrawal comes a day after the Portuguese Foreign Ministry confirmed the receipt of additional information from the Attorney General's Office which has been requested by the Iraqis.
The Foreign Ministry said yesterday that diplomatic immunity must be lifted for the case to go ahead, even though the Iraqis had paid Cavaco a sum of money, probably €52,000, in compensation for his injuries and to ensure he did not take independent legal action.
On Aug. 17th last year, in Ponte de Sor, the two young Iraqis, twin sons of the Iraqi ambassador to Portugal, beat up Ruben Cavaco, who suffered multiple fractures and had to be placed in an induced coma.
Leaked evidence today reveals the case may well be one of attempted murder, due to an eyewitness statement, until now withheld by the prosecution service.
With the Iraqi ambassador safely back in Bagdhad, under the rules of diplomacy inherent in the Vienna Convention the case will have to be transferred to Iraq.
According to Augusto Santos Silva, Iraq considered that there were "not enough elements to justify lifting the diplomatic immunity of the two children of the ambassador."
However, the Foreign Minister said that the Iraqi authorities had stated that they "want to use the possibility that international law allows them to pursue the case in Iraq under their judicial process."
The continuation of the case in Iraq, will be carried out "under the mechanisms of judicial cooperation existing between the different countries," with no bets on whether there is any cooperation at all. In this way, Portugal has been outfoxed, outwitted and outpaced by the Iraqis who now can decide whether or not to prosecute the twins. The case has left Portugal's legal system spluttering and leaves nothing but bad feelings towards the Iraqis
