More than 1,800 people and organisations have signed the document “For the freedom to write, publish and read” launched a week ago, addressed to the ministers of Interior Administration and Justice.
It calls for “urgent measures to prevent the continuation” of far-right attacks on authors and librarians. Members of the group Habeas Corpus and the far-right Ergue-te party have targeted book presentations in protest to a recent children’s book “O Pedro gosta de Afonso”, about a child who is attracted to another of the same sex.
The signatories point out that “in addition to verbal attacks, in a clear attempt to boycott the books, their authors and their public”, the extreme right-wing elements “have invaded and disrespected the authors’ privacy (…)
“The violent and discriminatory hate speech uttered by these organisations is public and known to the authorities. Many of these attacks and threats are made publicly, recorded by the organisations themselves and then proudly shared on social media”.
