A Portuguese national from Madeira has been formally charged by the Public Prosecutor’s Office with four terrorism-related offences: two counts of incitement to terrorism, and two counts of glorifying terrorism.
In a statement released on Friday, 13th February, the Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that the alleged offences took place in the Autonomous Region of Madeira between 2019 and 2020.
According to the investigation, led by the Central Department for Criminal Investigation and Prosecution (DCIAP) with the assistance of the National Counterterrorism Unit of the Judiciary Police, the suspect is believed to have radicalised between 2014 and 2016 while serving a prison sentence abroad in the United Kingdom.
Prosecutors allege that during his incarceration he converted to Salafi-jihadist Islam and adopted the ideology promoted by the so-called Islamic State.
Following his conviction in the UK, the defendant was handed an additional penalty of expulsion from the UK, and barred from re-entering the country for a period of 10 years, a ban due to expire in May 2026. He returned to Madeira in 2016.
Once back on the Portuguese island, the indictment claims, he continued to espouse the same radical ideology and maintained online contact with extremist Islamic preachers.
Judicial authorities further allege that the defendant used social media platforms to disseminate his views publicly, praising radical preachers and encouraging others to carry out violent acts in line with the extremist ideology he is said to support.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office noted that since 10th February 2026 the accused has been subject to a number of preventive measures. These include a requirement to report weekly to the criminal police in his area of residence; a ban on leaving the Autonomous Region of Madeira; a prohibition on publishing Salafi-jihadist content online, on any platform; a ban on accessing such extremist material through digital means; and a prohibition on contacting radical preachers or other radicalised individuals, whether directly or indirectly.
Source: DN
