Ammar Ameen, one of the two Iraqis to be tried this month for membership of a terrorist organization, has been on hunger strike for five days in Monsanto jail, Lisbon, his lawyer told Lusa.
Vítor Carreto said that Ammar Ameen is on hunger strike in protest against the harsh prison conditions imposed on him in Monsanto jail and because he is not allowed contact with people or family members outside.
Contacted by Lusa, the Directorate-General for Prison Services (DGRSP), run by the Ministry of Justice, said that the prisoner in question “has declared himself to be on hunger strike, and the legally established procedures are being followed which, among other things, include daily clinical monitoring, and his vital parameters are within the expected range for someone who is refusing to accept meals”.
The start of the trial of the Iraqis accused of war crimes and membership of a terrorist organization was scheduled for last April at the Lisbon Central Criminal Court, but was postponed due to a request by the defence to remove the judge – the so-called incident of recusal of the judge.
The trial is now scheduled to begin on September 25, at 9:30 a.m., at the Campus of Justice.
In September 2022, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) charged the two Iraqi brothers – Ammar Ameen and Yasir Ameen – with the crimes of membership of a terrorist organization, war crimes against people and, for one defendant, also the crime of resisting and coercing an official.
The inquiry conducted by the Central Department of Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP) investigated the activity of the defendants as members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), in the Al Hisbah (Religious Police) and Al Amniyah (Intelligence Services) departments during the occupation of Iraq by this terrorist organization, namely between 2014 and 2016.
Having been in Portugal since March 2017, under the European Union’s (EU) refugee relocation program, Ammar Ameen and Yasir Ameen have been in pre-trial detention since September 2021, when they were arrested by the Judicial Police.
One of the brothers was working at the Mezze restaurant in Arroios (Lisbon) when the Prime Minister, António Costa, and the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, visited the restaurant, which is known for integrating refugees.
