Sons of ex-Iraq envoy charged in Portugal after brawl

Two sons of the former Iraqi ambassador to Portugal have been charged with attempted murder for their alleged role in the assault of a teenager following a brawl in 2016, prosecutors said Thursday.

The alleged attack, which left a 15-year-old boy with a fractured skull, caused uproar in Portugal and led to Baghdad recalling its envoy, Mohamed Ridha, after refusing requests to waive his sons’ diplomatic immunity.

Portugal’s public prosecutor said the twin brothers, who were 17 at the time of the incident in the central town of Ponte de Sor, “violently attacked their victim, inflicting violent blows to his head and face leaving him unconscious.”

The victim reportedly required “rapid surgical intervention” following the attack, which came after a brawl between locals and pupils at a nearby flight school where one of the ambassador’s sons was enrolled.

The brothers say they acted in self-defence.

A source close to the investigation said last year that the ambassador, who left his post in 2017, reached an out of court settlement with the victim’s family to pay 40,000 euros, in addition to 12,000 euros already handed over to cover medical expenses.