Knife Cover-Up Alleged: Two More PSP Officers Charged in Moniz Shooting

The weekend before Sintra’s courthouse reconvenes, Portugal awoke to the news that two additional Public Security Police officers are now formal suspects in the death of 23-year-old Odair Moniz. Their alleged role—providing false testimony about a knife that has become the cornerstone of the official self-defence argument—pushes the roster of defendants to three and turns a single homicide trial into a broader test of police credibility.

How a late-night stop became a national controversy

The shooting itself, on 21 October 2024 in the Lisbon suburb of Agualva-Cacém, was initially reported as a routine intervention gone wrong. Within hours, the PSP asserted that Moniz had lunged with a blade, obliging officer Bruno Pinto, 28, to fire a single fatal shot. That account fell apart when forensic technicians found no trace of Moniz’s DNA on the weapon and when emergency physician statements clashed with the police report. Investigators now believe the dagger was either planted or strategically repositioned. The two newly accused officers—identified in court filings as R.M. and D.B.—stand accused of perjury for claiming they “saw the knife under the body” while lifting the victim, a detail contradicted by a colleague and by INEM staff present at the scene. Prosecutors describe the original auto de notícia as a text “built to fit a self-defence script.”

The man in the dock: Bruno Pinto’s solitary defence

Suspended since March, Pinto faces a charge of simple homicide, punishable by up to 16 years. He has spent most of 2025 moving between relatives’ homes and a campsite to avoid hostile attention, according to a source close to his defence. The trial was due to open on 15 October but slid to 22 October after the lawyer fell ill, setting up a tense session before Judge Ana Sequeira. The defendant argues he feared for his life; the Public Prosecutor counters that Moniz was running away, presenting no imminent threat, when the trigger was pulled. Whatever the verdict, the case already marks the first time in more than a decade that a PSP officer has stood trial for on-duty murder with real prospect of prison time.

Numbers that refuse to stay silent

Behind the courtroom drama lies a statistical drumbeat. The Inspectorate-General of Home Affairs (IGAI) logged 1,511 complaints against security forces in 2024, the highest figure in ten years and part of a steady climb from 711 in 2014. 742 of those allegations targeted the PSP, ranging from excessive force to procedural misconduct. The force points out that this is only 0.03 % of total interactions, yet rights groups like Amnesty International say the upward trend signals systemic faults. Their 2024/25 report criticises Portugal for “persistent ill-treatment of detainees and limp accountability mechanisms.” Nine PSP officers were suspended last year, and the Moniz proceedings have become a rallying point for activists demanding an independent body with powers that exceed those of the current IGAI.

Political reverberations in Lisbon

Parliament summoned Interior Minister Margarida Blasco last December after early inconsistencies in the case surfaced. Opposition MPs accused the ministry of relying on a boletim de ocorrência riddled with errors, while the government pleaded for investigative patience. With local elections looming in 2026, both Socialist and Social-Democrat benches have introduced draft bills on body-camera mandates and quicker disciplinary timelines. Yet, to date, no sweeping reform of the PSP or the Home Affairs Ministry has materialised, leaving families of other alleged abuse victims sceptical. "We keep hearing about case-by-case solutions, never structure," notes constitutional lawyer Sofia Ramos.

What to watch in the coming week

When doors open in Sintra on Wednesday, the court must first decide whether to split the perjury accusations into a separate file or fold them into Pinto’s homicide trial—a procedural choice that could stretch proceedings well into 2026. Simultaneously, the IGAI is finalising its own disciplinary probe, and the PSP’s internal affairs unit is expected to rule on permanent expulsions once criminal judgments land. For the wider public, the question is no longer only who pulled the trigger but whether the Portuguese state can convince citizens that policing errors will be punished and not papered over. The answer will ripple far beyond one tragic night in Agualva-Cacém.