Several political parties, including PSD, PS, PCP, Livre, and Bloco de Esquerda, voted in favor of a condemnation text following a heated debate among deputies of the Constitutional Affairs Committee.
João Almeida from CDS expressed his disapproval of the aggression against members of the theater company but refused to endorse terms like “far-right or fascists” used to describe the attackers.
Similar arguments were echoed by Chega deputy Madalena Cordeiro, who criticized the parliament for not voting on incidents involving attacks on Chega deputies.
Mariana Mortágua, coordinator for Bloco de Esquerda, countered João Almeida, stating that “far-right” is a noun, not an adjective, and identifying the group ‘Reconquista’ as explicitly far-right.
Mortágua also pointed out to Almeida that Lisbon’s municipal executive (PSD/CDS) condemned the attack as coming from “the far-right.”
António Rodrigues of PSD announced the social-democrats’ support for the text, while Livre deputy Paulo Muacho criticized attempts to equate “far-right and far-left” as misleading.
“PSD attempts to equate far-right and far-left, which doesn’t exist,” argued Paulo Muacho, prompting disapproval from social-democrat deputies.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into the attack against actor Adérito Lopes from the theater company A Barraca, which occurred on Portugal Day, June 10.
Adérito Lopes was assaulted by a far-right group in Lisbon while entering the theater for the free-entry performance ‘Amor é fogo que arde sem se ver,’ a tribute to Camões.
In statements to Lusa, actress Maria do Céu Guerra recounted that around 8:00 PM, as actors arrived at Cinearte in Largo de Santos, they encountered “a group of neo-Nazis with posters” displaying xenophobic slogans, initially provoking one of the actresses.
“Other actors were arriving, with two being provoked and a third brutally assaulted, suffering an eye injury and a serious facial cut,” stated the 82-year-old director, mentioning that the injured actor, Adérito Lopes, required hospital treatment.
