Chega president André Ventura defended this Monday that the party acted “within the law” regarding the accusation of spreading misinformation on its social networks, denying that any “unlawful act” had been committed.
At a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Lisbon, Chega’s leader was asked about the participation of the Social Communications Regulatory Agency (ERC) regarding the spread of false information on his page on the social network X (formerly Twitter) , resort to images similar to the ‘sites’ of Rádio Renascença and the newspaper Público.
Last week, sources from the Renascença group and the newspaper Público told Lusa that they had been targeted by false news spread by André Ventura on social networks.
André Ventura said the party “will respond to the ERC as it has responded in the past, sometimes with reason, sometimes with less reason”.
“We are absolutely aware that we have acted within the law and that we have the law on our side. We will await the decision of the ERC on this matter with complete tranquility,” he defended, reiterating: “We will wait to the ERC a When the ERC makes a decision, we will be here to comment. At this point, our lawyers tell us that we are perfectly protected within the law, Chega has not committed any unauthorized act.”
Ventura rejected that it was fake news, indicating that “they came from Folha Nacional”, the newspaper created by the party and created by Chega associates and leaders.
Chega’s leader insisted that this publication “now has three images, with three sections”, despite the fact that Folha Nacional’s website does not contain images similar to André Ventura’s and on the party’s social networks.
Some of the images published by Ventura are signed by “redação”, while on the website of the party newspaper they usually have the designation “Folha Nacional” in the signature, and none of these publications have an associated link to the original article.
The photos accompanying these publications on social networks also do not match the photos published with the articles on the Folha Nacional website.
Regarding the publication titled “Thousands of WYD subscribers missing. Illegal immigration, specialist says”, which appeared on André Ventura’s page with images similar to those of the Renaissance, it does not appear on that radio’s website and is also not possible to find in a generic internet search.
During the press conference, Chega’s leader also referred to the new mental health law that ends the automatic extension of hospitalization of non-attributable persons and allows involuntary treatment, allowing 46 non-attributable people who have exceeded the maximum duration to be released. of their sentence, with the consent of the courts.
André Ventura indicated that the party “has today asked the Ministry of Health to question the clinical file” of these people, as well as the criminal record, whether they are “in clinical conditions to return to society” and “a increased risk”. for everyone”. .
Despite indicating that this information would be sent “in confidence to parliament”, the Chega president defended that “it is important that the Portuguese know who is being released”, as well as what kind of crimes have been committed.
“Sex criminals, arsonists, murderers, murderers and others can only leave the hospital if they are in a mental state to reintegrate into society,” he defended.
Source: DN
