About 300 militants from the Chega Party and Brazilians from the Brazil-Portugal Movement defend this Tuesday that Lula da Silva should be in prison during a demonstration taking place in a street close to the Portuguese parliament.
“Lula, thief, your place is in prison” and “Zero Tolerance to Corruption”, sometimes with pictures of the Brazilian president embracing former Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates, sometimes with the two behind bars, are the most popular slogans used in a demonstration surrounded by great security measures and confining it to the beginning of Avenida D. Carlos I, right next to the Assembly of the Republic.
The initiative comes from the Portuguese right-wing party Chega, whose chairman, António Ventura, is expected either mid-morning, after a ceremony in which Lula da Silva will speak in parliament, as part of his official visit to Portugal, or after the formal session of the “April 25”, in which the Brazilian head of state will no longer participate.
The Land Movement Party joined the demonstration, which has no parliamentary representation, and there is also a small concentration of Ukrainian citizens. The presence of neo-Nazi leader Mário Machado, founder of the nationalist movement Nova Ordem Social and the National Front, also a former member of the Hammerskins Portugal group, who was arrested for illegal possession of weapons and involved in violent trials and hate crimes, is also present at the concentration against foreigners.
Faced with calls for peaceful protests even before Brazil’s president arrived in parliament, Chega leaders praised the security forces and repeatedly asked the protesters to shout the slogans and avoid responding to possible provocations, as on the other hand of the Assembly of the Republic, on Rua de São Bento, another demonstration takes place, but in support of Lula da Silva.
Talking to the Lusa agency, Manuel Matias, Chega’s spokesperson and advisor, said the purpose of the demonstration is to “show the Portuguese authorities and the world that the Portuguese people say no to corruption”.
“Today, the day of freedom, April 25, a date that we must defend in the name of democracy and freedom and the values of the republic, we have in the Assembly of the Republic someone who represents the exact opposite, namely an insult to the values defended by Portugal and Portuguese politicians”, underlined Manuel Matias.
Several Brazilian organizations and associations in Portugal are also taking part in the demonstration, such as the Movimento Brasil Portugal, whose leader, Mónica Kalman, told Lusa that Lula da Silva’s election was “strange” and that it represents “lie and fallacies” .
“The president of Brazil is here in Portugal, he was received by the Portuguese government. The election was strange and does not represent all Brazilians. One is winning elections, the other is winning power. Truth must prevail.” said Mónica Kalman to Lusa.
“We represent Brazilians, the right and Brazilian conservatism. We defend the truth, and this Brazilian president received by the Portuguese government represents every lie, every misconception. We support Chega, we defend the same values, seeking the truth, so that no Brazilians should not be misled. That’s why we joined Chega in the demonstration,” he added.
Lula was investigated in the Lava Jato operation and was arrested in April 2018, convicted of the crimes of passive corruption and money laundering in the case of an apartment in Guarujá, on the coast of São Paulo state.
He was imprisoned for 580 days, until November 2019, and was not allowed to participate in the 2018 presidential election against Jair Bolsonaro.
In 2021, the former president saw the Lava Jato convictions overturned by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), which ruled that Lula da Silva’s rights were not respected during the trial led by then-Judge Sérgio Moro, who would later take office. Justice in Bolsonaro’s government.
Source: DN
