Attorney António Garcia Pereira has filed a formal complaint with the Attorney General of the Republic, Amadeu Guerra, against the “neofascist party” Chega, urging the Public Ministry (MP) to initiate proceedings to request the dissolution of the party led by André Ventura, on Wednesday.
“Fascists are mainly countered in the streets, at factories, companies, schools, neighborhoods, everywhere, confronting them, exposing them, and unmasking them without hesitation. This fight should also extend to the legal arena, not with legalist illusions, but striving to demonstrate the complete illegality and unconstitutionality of a neofascist party like Chega, and working to stop its arrogant and violent impunity,” justified the former PCTP/MRPP leader.
In the letter, the lawyer essentially requested Amadeu Guerra to “order the MP magistrate at the Constitutional Court (TC) to initiate proceedings to request the dissolution of the party Chega” and to “immediately launch the appropriate criminal proceedings for acts of discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence committed by André Ventura and the main national leaders of Chega.” He also asked the Attorney General to “take all appropriate judicial and administrative measures to immediately remove xenophobic and racist billboards of André Ventura and Chega from the streets.”
The complaint, accessed by Notícias ao Minuto, invokes Article 46 of the Portuguese Constitution, which states that “armed associations or those of a military, militarized, or paramilitary type, as well as racist organizations or those professing fascist ideology, are not allowed.” It also refers to the Political Parties Law of 2003, which imperatively stipulates that parties with these characteristics are not permitted, arguing that “the MP should request the TC, which should decree, the dissolution of political parties” with such a profile.
“As repeatedly argued by several constitutionalists (from Bacelar Gouveia to Vital Moreira and Jorge Miranda), democracy as a political regime is not and cannot be the regime of ‘anything goes’ in the name of freedoms such as expression and organization. Therefore, it must establish, as it effectively established, fundamental principles that are, after all, its existential minimums, to avoid its own ‘internal’ destruction, such as human dignity, respect and guarantee of fundamental rights and freedoms, equality and non-discrimination, and political democracy and democratic participation of citizens,” he wrote.
Chega has promoted the “banalization of vulgar insults and hate speech, even in Parliament”
According to António Garcia Pereira, “the latest conduct of the Chega party and its leaders, especially after the last legislative elections, represents a new height of systematic behavior violating those essential democratic principles,” through the “banalization of the most vulgar insults and hate speeches, even in Parliament, against political opponents and certain communities” and the “banalization of violence.” As an example, he cited the statements made by Chega’s parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, who said “if the police shot to kill, the country would be in order” concerning the death of Odair Moniz.
The university professor also pointed out calls “for the silencing and exclusion of political opponents or even inconvenient journalists (presented by André Ventura as ‘enemies of the people’),” which are based on “continuous and totally unfounded allegations of supposed increases in criminality by immigrants, now especially those of Indian origin, as well as Muslims and Roma.”
In this line, the lawyer expressed that, since these facts are public, it is “strange that they have not prompted procedural or penal proceedings by the same Public Ministry, which has been willing and able to adopt such measures in other situations.”
He also recalled the recent statements by André Ventura, who said that “Portugal needs not one, but three Salazars,” which, according to António Garcia Pereira, constitutes an “apology of the fascist dictatorship regime” and its “highest exponent, Oliveira Salazar.”
Lawyer requested new criminal inquiry against Ventura and national leaders
The lawyer also requested the removal of “xenophobic and racist” posters related to André Ventura’s presidential campaign, which bear phrases like “This is not Bangladesh” and “The Roma must obey the law,” explaining that “no conception, however broad, of freedom of expression can justify this type of conduct,” which, “offending the honor of a group of citizens, incites discrimination and violence against them.”
He therefore asked Amadeu Guerra to initiate a criminal inquiry against André Ventura and other national leaders of Chega, “for practicing the crime of discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence”, as provided by the Penal Code.
According to António Garcia Pereira, it is “clear that the president of Chega – as well as other national leaders of the same party, like Pedro Pinto, Rita Matias, and Pedro Frazão – have publicly and through means intended for publication, defamed groups of people because of their race, color, ethnic or geographical origin and religion, inciting and encouraging discrimination, hatred, and even violence against such groups,” highlighting that there are “several cases of consummated and barbaric aggressions against such citizens verified in the Algarve, Porto, and Greater Lisbon,” which cause “strong fear and constraint on their freedom of action (particularly to go out and about, go to the café, their children’s school, or the supermarket).”
