Sebastião Simão Neto, who has lived in Portugal for more than 20 years, said he went to Angola on vacation and intended to leave the country last Friday.
The Angolan Government determines that, on international travel, passengers must present, at the airport, a PCR test for covid-19 with a negative result, carried out up to 72 hours before the trip, even if the country of destination, in this case Portugal, no longer demand it.
According to Sebastião Simão Neto, the collection was carried out at the David Bernardino Pediatric Hospital and the test was carried out in the laboratory of the National Institute for Health Research (INIS), which, on Thursday, the day before the trip, called him to let him know that he could raise the result.
"On the 4th of February I had a trip scheduled to return to Lisbon, I had already done the 'online check-in', I went to the airport, at the first check they saw my passport and everything was ok, at the second check they asked for the test, I delivered , and quite simply you told me that the document was fake, because that paper is no longer used", he said.
"I asked them to call the laboratory to verify the situation, what they did was call the SIC [Criminal Investigation Service] at the airport", he said, adding that the person who told him the test was fake refused to identify himself.
In an attempt to resolve the situation, Sebastião Simão Neto went to the check-in desk to explain what was happening and was sent to the person in charge, who tried to intervene, but without success because the SIC staff had already arrived.
"You have to accompany us! They told me that I couldn't check the luggage and we went to the SIC office at the airport. I took my phone, put the QR code and the information was all from the Ministry of Health, I showed it and said that if it was false, I would not have given that information, and they replied: The gentleman who detected it is an expert and if he said it is false, it is because it is false", he explained.
After more than three hours at the airport's SIC, the passenger suggested that he leave his passport and test, to resolve the situation on Monday, taking into account that it was a Friday, a public holiday, and nothing could be resolved.
"No! You have to go to the cell", they told him, although he argued that he was "aware that the test is real" and added that if there was a failure, it would not be his fault, but the laboratory's.
"They took me to the cell, I stayed there, and my brother the next day [Saturday] went to the laboratory and they confirmed that the test was legal, true," he said.
For lack of a prosecutor to be heard, Sebastião Simão Neto remained detained until Monday, "in a cell, without a mattress, without sleep and with several people accused of various crimes".
"Only in the three days I stayed there, I watched three fights, I never thought I was in a situation like this, on top of that I was innocent", he lamented, questioning the way in which the Angolan authorities work, "who do not even carry out an investigation and immediately give voice to prison".
On Monday, he was heard by the prosecutor and received the release warrant, but questioned who was responsible for the situation, having been advised to file a complaint and buy the ticket to return, "because it can take a long time".
So far, only the INIS has apologized for what happened, committing to carry out a new test, free of charge, before the trip, said Simão Neto, who is still in Angola.
The Portuguese-Angolan man said he had no money for the ticket, was staying in a hotel and had one week to show up at his place of service, in Portugal, otherwise he would be fired for just cause.
"I went to the IGAE [General Inspectorate of the State Administration], I made the participation and they told me to wait and I'm here waiting. Portuguese consulate, to see what they can do for me, give me legal support, for example", he said.
Sebastião Simão Neto was on vacation for 30 days with another brother who lives in Holland, but who returned a week before him.
"When my brother heard about the story, he told me that if I went with him I would never set foot here again, because it's not normal, what I went through, I only see", he lamented.
"First is the moral damages, I see cockroaches where there are no cockroaches, I have to pay another 330,000 kwanzas for the ticket, I'm at the hotel, I made some purchases to take away, things are already spoiling, all this is damage, money thrown away", he stressed.
Lusa contacted the Ministry of Health, which oversees the INIS, as well as the SIC, with both entities indicating that they are investigating the facts and sending clarifications for later.
