In a press conference at Chega’s national headquarters in Lisbon, André Ventura stated that he had not yet been informed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office about the opening of an inquiry concerning his disclosure of immigrant children’s names enrolled at a Lisbon school during a parliamentary session. Ventura expressed “respect for Portuguese justice.”
“I am confident that we will reach a conclusion and understand that this is a matter of political freedom, political action, and political speech,” he asserted, pointing out that in similar cases, including those involving him, the judiciary determined it was a matter of freedom of expression.
Ventura expressed regret that the justice system is “wasting time looking at parliament,” commenting that it is time “that could be spent on inquiries into crimes such as rape, corruption, money laundering,” or arsonists.
The Chega leader noted that he is still unaware of what prompted the inquiry’s launch but suspects it stemmed from complaints by associations or civic movements, suggesting that a “new form of politics” is emerging, one that seeks to criminalize politicians and scrutinize their every word as potential crimes. He appealed to these associations.
“We should not clog the criminal justice system because we dislike a politician or want to see them behind bars because we cannot defeat them,” he declared.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed today the initiation of an inquiry against Chega’s president, André Ventura, and party deputy Rita Matias, regarding the disclosure of immigrant children’s names enrolled at a Lisbon school.
In a response sent to Lusa, the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) confirmed “the inquiry’s initiation related to this matter.”
André Ventura mentioned the list of names in the National Assembly during a parliamentary debate on changes to the nationality law at the beginning of July, and Rita Matias revealed the full names in a video shared on social media.
“These individuals are zero Portuguese,” Ventura stated, met with a standing ovation from his party’s bench.
