Left Bloc seeks to “prevent Portugal being accused internationally of genocide”
The saga of the Portuguese flagged vessel carrying explosives bound for Israel is still grinding on, with the country’s Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) accusing the government of obfuscation.
Speaking to journalists in Lisbon today, Left Bloc coordinator Mariana Mortágua said Portugal’s minister of foreign affairs, Paulo Rangel, has “chosen a version of the facts that hides the real intention of that ship, that hides the Portuguese flag of that ship and that that ship is carrying a cargo that is destined for the Israeli army”.
She was speaking moments after handing in a statement to the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), accompanied by her parliamentary leader, Fabian Figueiredo, in which she asks the Public Prosecutor’s Office to “monitor and prevent Portugal from being accused internationally of complicity in a genocide”.
At the end of August, following questions raised by the Left Bloc, the Minister for Foreign Affairs stated that the cargo ship Kathrin, which is carrying explosives, has a Portuguese flag but is German and “is not going to Israel”. The vessel is bound for two ports, in Slovenia and Montenegro.
“It is carrying explosives, not weapons,” Rangel said at the time.
Mariana Mortágua has pointed out that the ship is German “but it is registered in Madeira”. It has a “Portuguese flag”, and therefore is “subject to the rules and laws of Portugal”.
“The ship is going to Slovenia, but the explosives inside the ship are bound for Israel”, she insists, where they will be “used to make weapons”.
This was the reason why the ship “could not have docked in Namibia” (and why it came to the notice of the international press in the first place).
“All the data is on the table, there are explosives, there is a ship, there is a Portuguese flag and there is a destination which is the Israeli army,” she reiterated.
Not only this, but there is a United Nations rapporteur who has warned of the danger of (Portugal’s) complicity in the genocide” of the people of Gaza.
“We are not talking about a suspicion, we are talking about a charge that has led to this ship being stopped in other countries around the world precisely because of this issue,” Mariana Mortágua told reporters.
In short, the Left Bloc wants the Portuguese flag removed from the ship today – and for the Public Prosecutor’s Office “to intervene and ensure that international law is complied with by the Portuguese State”.
Source material: LUSA
