The information was announced today by the newspaper Expresso, and to Lusa, lawyer Ricardo Sá Fernandes, who drafted the special personal protection action, explained that this trial will have a single session, where witnesses from both sides will be heard – from the leader of Chega and from the six individuals requesting the removal of the billboards.
The session is scheduled to begin at 09:20, and by the end of the day, it should be clear whether André Ventura will be obliged to remove the billboards concerning the Roma community.
The action was filed last week and also seeks to impose a fine of five thousand euros on André Ventura for each day of delay or for any billboards that might be erected with similar content.
On the billboards placed by Chega in various locations, including Moita, Montijo, and Palmela, the following phrase can be read, accompanied by a photograph of André Ventura, in his capacity as a presidential candidate: “The Roma must obey the law.”
For the authors of the action, the billboards “convey the message that Roma do not comply with the law,” which “stigmatizes and humiliates the Roma people as a whole.”
“They feel powerless to stop the wave of xenophobia and disdain for the Roma people that the posting of the billboards generates in Portuguese society,” the action further states, which, if accepted by the court, does not need to go through the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The message on the billboards “offends the moral integrity and the right to dignity” of those targeted, the authors of the action have also considered, adding that “André Ventura cannot shelter behind freedom of expression.”
