Lisbon, Oct. 25, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's attorney general (PGR) has opened an inquiry into statements made by André Ventura and Pedro Pinto, leader and member of parliament for the right wing Chega Party, about the death of Cabo Verde citizen Odair Moniz.
In response to Lusa, the PGR confirmed on Friday "the opening of an inquiry" into statements made by those responsible for Chega.
According to the PGR, the inquiry is being run by the Lisbon Regional Investigation and Penal Action Department (DIAP).
At issue are statements by Chega's parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, about the riots of recent days related to the death of Odair Moniz, shot by police in Amadora, saying that if the security forces "shot more to kill, the country would be more in order".
The leader of Chega, André Ventura, also said of the PSP officer who shot Odair Moniz: "We shouldn't make an official suspect of this man; we should thank this policeman for the work he did. We should decorate him and not make him an official suspect, threaten to prosecute him or threaten to arrest him."
Today's Diário de Notícias newspaper reports that a group of citizens are going to file a criminal complaint against these statements, among them the former minister for justice in António Costa's government, Francisca Van Dunem, for whom these statements have "crossed a line".
"A line has been crossed. No democrat can fail to be outraged by these statements. My conscience obliges me to take a stand against those who take advantage of this climate to make calls for hatred and more violence. I'm going to sign the complaint, which I hope will be signed by as many people as possible," she said.
In addition to André Ventura and Pedro Pinto, the announced criminal complaint, which has already been welcomed by the Left Bloc and PCP, also targets the statements made by Ricardo Reis, a parliamentary advisor to the party, who said on the social network X on 23 October: "The only word is this: thank you to the officer who made the streets safer!" and "one less criminal... one less elected Bloco [Left Bloc] member".
The complaint has also taken the form of a public petition, which is available online for citizens to sign and already has more than 7,000 signatories.
Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old Cabo Verdean living in the Zambujal neighbourhood in Amadora, was shot by a PSP officer in the early hours of Monday morning in the Cova da Moura neighbourhood in the same district, and died shortly afterwards in Lisbon's São Francisco Xavier Hospital.
According to the PSP, the man ‘fled’ in a car after seeing a police vehicle and ‘crashed’ in Cova da Moura, where, when he was approached by the officers, he ‘resisted arrest and tried to assault them with a dangerous weapon’.
The SOS Racismo association and the Vida Justa movement contested the police version and demanded a ‘serious and impartial’ investigation to ascertain ‘all responsibilities’, considering that there is ‘a culture of impunity’ in the police.
The Inspectorate-General for Internal Administration and the PSP have opened inquiries and the officer who shot the man has been made an official suspect.
Since Monday night there have been riots in Zambujal and, since Tuesday, in other neighbourhoods in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, where buses, cars and rubbish bins have been burnt. More than a dozen people have been arrested, the driver of a bus suffered serious burns and two police officers received hospital treatment.
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