Google translated from Portuguese
At issue is the incident of March 24, 2018, in which members of the Hells Angels, knowing of the presence of the group “Alcatraz” at the restaurant Mesa do Prior, decided to invade the establishment.
The far-right activist Mário Machado revealed this Monday that he took refuge, along with other people, in the warehouse of a restaurant in Prior Velho, when he realized that elements of the motorcycle group Hells Angels were going to invade the commercial establishment.
Mário Machado was speaking as an assistant (collaborator to the prosecution) in the Hells Angels trial, which has 89 defendants belonging to this biker group , and who are accused of crimes of criminal association, attempted aggravated murder aggravated by the use of a weapon, offense physical integrity, extortion, theft, drug trafficking and possession of weapons and ammunition.
At issue is the incident of March 24, 2018, in which members of the Hells Angels, aware of the presence of members of the group “Alcatraz” (satellite group of “Los Bandidos”) inside the restaurant Mesa do Prior, decided to invade the establishment with violent intent.
In court, Mário Machado said that an event had been posted on the internet for 8 pm that day to bring together elements of the satellite group of “Los Bandidos” , but several supporters, some from far away, were already at the restaurant at the end of the morning of that day. day, to have lunch there.
It was at that time, he said, that he glimpsed through the restaurant windows “some excitement” and “movement” outside, having the immediate perception that it would be an action of the elements of the Hells Angels.
Promptly, Mário Machado and others, including the restaurant owner (Paulo Rodrigues) and two “boys” friends took refuge in the warehouse, located at the back of the establishment.
Once in the storeroom, Mário Machado reported that one of the boys was holding the doorknob to try to prevent anyone from entering, while he tried to find, among cutlery and other objects, “tools to defend himself”.
He noted that he discovered two sharp knives to defend himself, saying he had the perception that he was the main target of the aggressors, namely because he was organizing a rival biker group from the Hells Angels .
In response to presiding judge Sara Pina Cabral, Mário Machado said that he did not realize that someone had tried to open the door” of the warehouse and recalled that, from inside the storeroom, “he only heard things starting” in the space reserved for the restoration.
He said he left the warehouse when he realized by the noise that the police had arrived at the restaurant and remembered that when he opened the storeroom door, there was no one from the Hells Angels there, only noticing that there was blood, glass on the floor and overturned chairs.
Mário Machado revealed that it was one of the boys who was with him in the warehouse who called the police and that all those present were identified by the police. In response to the panel of judges, the deponent said that, when viewing the movement of people outside the restaurant, before the attack, he could not see if any of them were carrying weapons.
During the session, the prosecutor questioned Mário Machado about photograms displayed at trial and which contained images captured by cameras outside the restaurant, a situation that generated protests and requests from defense lawyers, who claimed that it was a subtle form of the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) allow the visual recognition of the alleged aggressors , in a practice that they classified as irregular, invalid and likely to cause the nullity of the evidence.
José Manuel Castro, Mário Machado’s lawyer, countered that he “does not see the defects” in the criminal procedure invoked by the defendants’ defense and, in the same vein, the panel of judges rejected the request that challenged the procedure of the Public Ministry.
According to the indictment of this case, the members of Hells Angels devised a plan to annihilate the group “Los Bandidos” in March 2018, using physical force and various weapons to cause them serious injuries, “even to death if necessary” .
Most of the defendants announced at the first trial session, last September 28, that they did not intend to make a statement at the hearing.
Due to the high number of defendants and lawyers, the trial of the Hells Angels case takes place at Espaço Multiusos, in Camarate, Loures, with security measures in charge of the Special Unit of the PSP.
In the order that brought the defendants to trial, investigating judge Carlos Alexandre considered that, given the evidence analyzed, “this set of elements thus grouped is not a simple ‘biker’ recreational club, but a group of people who organize themselves (… ) in paramilitary molds or similar to the mode of action of a militia”.
