A Lisbon judge has sent 39 of the Hell’s Angels gang members to jail, pending trial. Of the 58 arrested in Portugal last week, the remaining 19 detainees will have to report daily to the authorities in their home Council areas.
The criminal investigation judge ruled that 39 of the 58 detainees of the Hell's Angels motorcycle group should be detained.
The defendants that have been released are banned from visiting the international motorbike festival in Faro, which runs from Thursday to Sunday.
Of the defendants who have been detained, four could qualify for house arrest with an electronic bracelet, depending on an endorsement by the prison service.
The defendants are indicted for criminal association, attempted murder, robbery, physical offense and drug trafficking.
The Public Prosecutor's Office had asked for pre-trial detention for 54 of the 58 detainees in Portugal, according to one of the defence lawyers. A 59th member is detained in Germany.
Defence lawyers argued that the measures to be implemented would be a deprivation of liberty, given the motorcycle festival in Faro and another in Góis this August.
One of the lawyers, Túlio Araújo, told reporters that the case against his clients was "very fragile" and that the evidence and accusations "are not properly individualised."
