Both men have been in preventive custody since incident
The Public Ministry has formulated charges against two marines held since last March following the brutal death of 26-year-old PSP agent Fábio Guerra outside a Lisbon disco.
Cláudio Coimbra, a former boxing champion, and Vadym Hyrnko both faces charges of murder. A third suspect – a friend of both men – had said he would be giving himself up to police ‘after Easter’, but continues ‘in parts uncertain’ – almost certainly outside the country.
Judges have said they want both men to remain in preventive custody until their trial due to the pressure they could bring to bear on witnesses.
This tragic story has various sides to it. The defence is stressing the men ‘had no intentions to kill’ when they laid into Fábio Guerra and three colleagues; that presumption of innocence has not been taken into account – but the mere fact that these were (meant to be) elite soldiers – and yet they were involved in such gratuitous violence after a night’s drinking – has been enough to inflame opinions.
Speaking at an event close to the horror, Naval chief Gouveia e Melo did not mince his words. The Navy does not want brutes, he said.
Thus Cláudio Coimbra and Vadym Hyrnko remain behind bars, awaiting trial.
Fábio Guerra’s devastated family meantime have been given compensation – and saw their ‘lovely boy’ given a real hero’s send off.
