The vice-president of Letras Nómadas, representing eight associations, stated that constitutional lawyer Vitalino Canas acknowledged potential criminal indicators. The associations are gathering evidence to file a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MP) and are considering filing an injunction.
At issue are presidential candidate André Ventura’s posters from Chega, targeting specific communities, including one stating, “Gypsies must comply with the law.”
Bruno Gonçalves explained that the injunction aims not only to remove the displayed posters but also to ban the display of new posters in public spaces.
The notification came on Friday, the 24th, which Bruno Gonçalves described as an “interesting day” as it was Municipal Day for Equality.
The alert was raised by a “person from the gypsy community” living in Moita, who sent a photograph of the poster, prompting the association to investigate the presence of more posters across the country.
Bruno Gonçalves suggested that the location choice could be related to Chega’s electoral results in Moita, noting that “the gypsy community is not that large.”
He asserted that it was a “premeditated act,” given that André Ventura, during his presidential candidacy announcement, “already told journalists that he would attack the gypsies with posters.”
“I think these are sufficient proofs for the Public Prosecutor’s Office and judicial authorities to understand that there is a voluntary attack, persecution of gypsy communities, and promotion of racial hatred,” he accused.
The vice-president added that several gypsy associations filed a complaint with the MP on April 18 concerning “videos on social networks inciting hatred, promoting racial hatred,” allegedly promoted by Chega.
Bruno Gonçalves stated that they will now add more evidence to the complaint, especially regarding André Ventura’s presidential posters.
“We will move forward with all the forces we have,” he assured.
He lamented that the MP had not responded to the April complaint, which is why they are now considering an injunction, as it may be a quicker process.
“We are very sad about the process. It is a total delay. We do not understand how justice concerning this gentleman and this party takes so long,” he lamented.
He added that the fact that this is the second most-voted party in Portugal should not be a reason for the MP or other institutions not to proceed, pointing out that “30 individual complaints from gypsy community citizens” also went unanswered.
Bruno Gonçalves also highlighted the impact that hate speech is having, with cases of bullying in schools against gypsy children who hear from peers “death to the gypsies” or “long live Chega.”
[News updated at 18:16]
