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Portugal’s silent child victims
Updated: 20-Oct-2005
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• Leonor and João Cipriano, mother and uncle of Joana, stood silently and without emotion during the hearing at Portimão’s courthouse.
Photo: LUIS FORRA/LUSA
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Last week saw the trial of the alleged murderers of Joana Cipriano, an eight-year-old girl who disappeared from her Algarve home more than a year ago. This coincided with another important development in a separate case – the impending release of Carlos Silvino, the former driver at the Casa Pia children’s home, from where children were allegedly ‘supplied’ to prominent people for sex. The Casa Pia case rocked Portugal
to its foundations when it first broke three years ago. The news that a child sex ring had been operating out of the state-run children’s home prompted solemn interventions from President Sampaio, who said he was determined that there should be a thorough investigation. “The impunity, which for decades on end has brought shame on us all, will finally end,” he told the nation in 2003.
During the investigation police questioned a senior Socialist politician and two of the country’s most famous TV stars, as well as doctors and lawyers. Carlos Silvino, or ‘Bibi’ as the press refer to him, was the ‘whistleblower’ whose incriminating testimony ensured it was brought before the courts.
Casa Pia, founded in 1870, has cared for some of the country’s most vulnerable children, including the deaf and the blind. The sense of disempowerment surrounding the abused children only served to intensify national revulsion. At the time, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a social commentator and former head of the Social Democrats, said that the whole process had prompted a sombre self-appraisal. “Portuguese society looked in the mirror and said ‘we are ugly’.”
Pedro Namora, now a lawyer and former inmate of Casa Pia, says the lives of many of the child victims have been ruined. “Many of my friends from that time are dead. Some of them killed themselves. Others were addicts and overdosed. Many are in jail and some are down and out,” he revealed.
The case of Joana Cipriano highlights serious omissions on the part of authorities who failed to spot that the little girl was being exploited and neglected. According to a neighbour of the girl, Joana seemed unnaturally mature for her age. “She has a bearing and an attitude greatly beyond her years. Instead of playing with other children, she seems to spend her time taking care of her two little brothers.” Another neighbour described her as the “Cinderella” of the household, seen at all times of the day and night in the village, running errands for her family.
Although the cases are different, they both highlight the silent nature of the mistreatment of children. Perhaps the revelations in both instances are all the more shocking in a conservative country like Portugal where family ties are deemed to be stronger than in Northern Europe and where children are supposedly more valued.
Court hears Joana’s horror story
Onlookers in the public gallery screamed abuse at the mother and uncle of Joana Cipriano as they were ferried to and from court.
The case, which has shocked the nation with its account of incest, murder and desecration, took just three days to be tried. The Public Ministry has pressed for jail terms of 24 years for the defendants, who are charged with qualified murder, as well as desecrating and concealing a body.
Joana disappeared, presumed murdered, in the Algarve village of Figueira, near Portimão. She was last seen buying food from a nearby café on the evening of September 12 last year. Prosecutors charge that she came home to find her mother, 34-year-old Leonor Cipriano, and her uncle, 32-year-old João Cipriano, having sex. Fearful that Joana would relate the incident to her stepfather, they allege that the couple decided to kill her. The prosecution also said that the couple had repeatedly mistreated Joana, recounting that she was little more than a “servant” in her own household.
The court heard a catalogue of horrifying details, including an earlier video taped confession from Joana’s uncle in which he related the circumstances of his niece’s murder. This video testimony is now the subject of an appeal from the defence team who claim it should be excluded because the couple exercised their right to remain silent during the trial. In the taped confession, João Cipriano said he and his sister hit Joana who then banged her head against a wall before collapsing, unconscious, onto the floor. João Cipriano claimed that he had wanted to call an ambulance but that his sister prevented him, telling him instead to go to Joana’s stepfather and inform him that she had disappeared.
Mother had appealed for daughter’s return
Her mother made subsequent public appeals for her daughter’s safe return, claiming that she had been kidnapped. But authorities began to suspect the couple after villagers noted their allegedly offhand reaction to Joana’s disappearance. Local shopkeeper Nídia Rochato remembered that Leonor neither cried nor seemed unduly concerned. When she commented on this to her, Leonor reportedly replied that she believed that her daughter was still alive.
The absence of a corpse delayed the arraignment process but the Public Ministry were able to indict the couple following statements from neighbours. Investigators also gathered forensic evidence at the house where Joana lived with her mother, stepfather and two brothers.
A total of 45 witnesses, mostly relatives and villagers, testified in court between Wednesday and Friday of last week. Four jurors (one man and three women) and three judges will decide the verdict. The opinions of the jurors – a 20-year-old student, a physiotherapist, a library employee and a waitress – will carry the same weight as the judges.
Joana’s uncle had contempt for human life
Leonor and João Cipriano, who have been held on remand for over a year, stood silently and without emotion as they heard prosecutor José Pinheiro outline his case. He described João Cipriano as a man who “has contempt for human life, psychopathic tendencies and difficulty in controlling impulses”. Pinheiro also castigated Joana’s mother for her “emotional instability, insensitivity and disregard for other people’s needs”. Only when Pinheiro announced that he was pressing for a 24-year jail term for both defendants did Leonor show emotion, sobbing uncontrollably.
Pinheiro explained why his team was pressing for such a long sentence. “The defendants’ guilt is heightened by their cold and calculating behaviour after their child’s death, as well as the devious manoeuvres they adopted to conceal the crime,” he said.
The trial included key testimony from Joana’s stepfather, António Leandro, who related that Leonor had confided to him that she had had a sexual relationship with her brother. He also told the court that during this conversation, which took place a few days after Joana’s disappearance, at judicial police headquarters, Leonor had admitted that she and her brother had killed the little girl.
A key element of the prosecution’s case rests on the fact that the couple dismembered the girl’s corpse. António Leandro, confronted with photographs of tools allegedly used by the couple, said he recognised a saw he had kept at home. In the video taped confession, João Cipriano admitted that the body of the girl was dismembered and placed in a refrigerated trunk. A doctor involved in the case, Albino Santana dos Santos, conceded that body parts, matching the size of a girl of Joana’s height, could have been stuffed inside the trunk.
Defence team challenges evidence
Despite the evidence, João Grado, Leonor Cipriano’s lawyer, still pressed for her acquittal, describing the evidence as “miserable”. João Cipriano’s lawyer, Sara Rosado, reminded the court that Joana’s body had never been found and dismissed the prosecution’s version of events. “João Cipriano has an intelligence level considerably lower than the average. How is it possible that such a person could deceive everyone for so long?” she asked the court.
But prosecutors disagreed, describing the case as a “veritable horror story that proves that reality really does surpass fiction”. “Nobody can say that they wanted to kill her when they hit. But later when they persisted, they knew that she was going to die. Their guilt is absolute – the victim was a minor, the daughter and niece of the defendants,” they told the court. A verdict in the case is due on November 11.
Bibi’s freedom raises fears on both sides
A judicial decision to release Carlos Silvino, the former driver for the Casa Pia children’s home, is causing alarm among some Lisbon residents.
Silvino, or ‘Bibi’ as he is known, is accused of multiple crimes while he worked at the home. He faces a total of 604 counts of crimes of a sexual nature against 32 inmates and ex-inmates of the institution.
Judge Ana Peres, who is presiding over the ongoing Casa Pia trial, has ordered Silvino’s release on November 25. By that date, Silvino will have served three years as a remand prisoner, the maximum period permitted by law.
Silvino will be unable to leave the Lisbon area, will be obliged to surrender his passport and will have to report regularly to police. He is likely to be placed under a special witness protection programme because his role as a Casa Pia ‘whistleblower’ is integral to the whole process.
Silvino’s lawyer, José Maria Martins, has revealed that, although his client is happy to be freed, he is also concerned for his own safety because of the assistance he has provided to prosecutors. “Silvino has collaborated with the authorities, revealing some of the facts that he knows about the other defendants. And, for this reason alone, he is a prime target,” he said. Martins added that there were many other facts that Silvino had still not disclosed about the case.
It seems unlikely that Silvino would choose to return to his old home in the capital’s Rua Alberto de Sousa. But, should he do so, some neighbours are promising to make life difficult for him. Others expressed fears that Silvino, currently held in isolation in a Lisbon prison, would pose a threat to children. “We have to go to work and leave our children here. How are things going to be from now on? We are afraid. He has no business coming here,” said one resident. Another man promised trouble if he saw Silvino walking down a street. “Locals are disgusted. He is going to get a punch in the face,” he warned.
Carlos Silvino was first detained by police on November 25, 2002, and has been held on remand ever since. The Casa Pia trial began exactly two years later and is expected to last well into next year.
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