"It is confirmed that the investigation was reopened", the press office of the Attorney General's Office told Lusa, regarding this case in which the inmate's family alleges that Danijoy Pontes was murdered in jail and that he did not die of a heart attack as was initially reported after his autopsy.

The reopening of the investigation was reported by newspaper Público, which also states that the Directorate-General for Reinsertion and Prison Services (DGRSP) decided to reopen the internal investigation to investigate the circumstances in which the death of the young inmate took place.

The doubts and controversy regarding the version initially presented for the death of Danijoy Pontes have been motivated by the family, who allege that the 23-year-old inmate was murdered, and, on the 6th, dozens of people and several members of anti-racist movements and organizations held a demonstration in Lisbon to "demand justice for Danijoy".

At the time, Alice Costa, the inmate's mother, said she was "almost certain that her son was murdered", saying she did not believe that Danijoy, who was healthy, had died of a heart attack.

Alice Costa said there was "a very large mark on his forehead" when she went to the Institute of Forensic Medicine (INMLCF) and that his clothes were "covered in blood".

In addition, he also claimed, other inmates of the Lisbon Prison Establishment (EPL) informed him that the cell where Danijoy Pontes was found dead was covered in blood.

“He had a mark on his forehead, clothes with blood on them. Saying it was a heart attack is a lie”, insisted Alice Costa, defending that the Public Ministry should reopen the inquiry and avoid “an injustice”.

According to family and friends of the young inmate, Danijoy spent 11 months in preventive detention for theft, exceeding the recommended time, when it was possible for him to await trial not behind bars.

He would eventually be sentenced to six years of effective prison, in addition to the law, even though he had no criminal record.

On the same morning that Danijoy Lopes died at the EPL, another inmate also died at the EPL, which contributed to raising more doubts about what happened inside the prison in the capital, with capacity for more than 800 prisoners.