“The account given notes that they were without water for quite some time while at the port. In the detention center, there was water, but it did not seem drinkable (although they were told it was potable),” stated an official source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) today.
“The ambassador [Portuguese, Helena Paiva] immediately protested to the detention area official. The ministry did the same to the Israeli ambassador in Lisbon,” according to the MNE.
The four Portuguese nationals, who were detained between Wednesday night and Thursday morning when the Israeli navy intercepted the Global Sumud Flotilla, also complained of a “lack of food.”
The coordinator of the Left Bloc, Mariana Mortágua, actress Sofia Aparício, and activists Miguel Duarte and Diogo Chaves are among the more than 450 participants of the humanitarian mission detained by Israeli forces, which intercepted around 50 vessels comprising the flotilla between Wednesday and Thursday.
In a letter shared on social media by the Portuguese movement Flotilha Humanitária and attributed to Mariana Mortágua, it reads: “Mother, they did not treat us well, no water or food for 48 hours. But everything is fine, and I have not yet been put in solitary. Call for protests.”
The Portuguese ambassador in Tel Aviv, Helena Paiva, who visited the Portuguese nationals today, “confirmed that they were all in good health despite the difficult and harsh conditions upon arrival at the Ashdod port and in the detention center,” previously indicated the MNE in an informative note.
“They were not subjected to physical violence, despite various complaints – complaints which led to an immediate protest by the Portuguese ambassador in Israel,” according to Portuguese authorities.
The four Portuguese, the same note added, accepted to be “voluntarily and immediately deported” and were informed that Israeli authorities would place them “on the first available flights to Europe, at the expense of the Israeli government, which may be delayed due to the Israeli SUKKOT holidays.”
[Updated at 19:25]
