A group of four Portuguese citizens, who were part of the Global Sumud flotilla and detained by Israeli authorities, returned to Lisbon, landing at Humberto Delgado Airport at around 10:30 PM on Sunday after being repatriated from Israel.
Approximately three dozen pro-Palestinian activists awaited the arrival of the four Portuguese individuals in the airport’s arrivals area. They held Palestinian flags and scarves and displayed signs with slogans such as “Free Palestine” and “Thank you Marina, Sofia, Diogo, and Miguel for representing us.”
The coordinator of the Left Bloc (BE), Mariana Mortágua, actress Sofia Aparício, and activists Diogo Chaves and Miguel Duarte, were detained last Wednesday night when Israeli forces intercepted the roughly 50 vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which aimed to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Portuguese citizens, along with more than 450 activists from various nationalities, were taken by Israeli authorities to a detention center in the Negev Desert, southern Israel, after the vessels were intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international waters.
Portugal’s ambassador to Israel, Helena Paiva, visited the Portuguese detainees on Friday, reporting that they were “in good health,” yet had “numerous complaints,” prompting immediate protests from the diplomat to Israeli authorities and from the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Paulo Rangel, to the Israeli ambassador in Lisbon, Oren Rozenblat.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the activists “were not subjected to physical violence” but endured “tough and difficult conditions upon arrival at the port of Ashdod [where they were taken] and at the detention center,” in addition to being without water and food “for a considerable time.”
[News in update]
