An almighty row has blown up this afternoon since CHEGA leader André Ventura was given 24-hours to remove billboards that caused uproar within the Portuguese gypsy community.
The nub of the ‘outrage’ swirling over television debates and interviews is that the court effectively disagreed with the content of the posters – and therefore signalled that gypsies in this country do not have to comply with the law.
At least, this is the way in which Mr Ventura has interpreted the ruling – along with the rest of his party.
“When a court says that gypsies do not have to comply with the law, it is a sign that democracy is going the wrong way”, the CHEGA leader said in a press conference late this afternoon.
“The billboard does not say that gypsies do not comply with the law, or that the gypsies that took out this legal action do not comply with the law. It says: “Gypsies must comply with the law”, he stressed, in yet another smooth finesse of a situation that PS Socialists might well suggest is yet another instance of ‘CHEGA manipulation’.
“This decision goes against all the legal principles on which the country has been based in recent decades: political freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of discussion and humour in politics and social action,” Ventura went on – affirming that “it goes against everyone to give the gypsy community a victory and tell them they don’t have to obey the law.”
The six representatives of the Techari association – representing Portugal’s gypsy community – who brought the action decided in their favour today would argue that none of this has anything to do with whether or not gypsies comply with the law in Portugal. It has to do with the dignity of the Roma gypsy community.
They would also refute absolutely that the court ruling means ‘gypsies do not have to comply with the law’.
Techari believes today’s decision is “a significant moment for the defence of dignity, equality and the democratic rule of law in Portugal”.
In a statement, the association which promotes gypsy culture and community integration said the decision recognises that the message on the billboards is “discriminatory and exacerbates prejudice”.
“Justice has been done. This decision reaffirms that Portugal is a democracy based on respect for all citizens, without exceptions or collective stigmatisation,” praised the association’s president José Fernandes.
According to the ruling of Lisbon’s Civil Court, André Ventura must “remove, within 24 hours, all posters he had placed on public roads and in various locations around the country with the words “Gypsies must obey the law – André Ventura presidential election campaign 2026”’.
Judge Ana Barão also ordered Ventura “to refrain, in future, from determining or promoting, directly or indirectly, the display of posters with identical or equivalent content”.
For each day of delay, for each poster that remains on public roads beyond the 24-hour deadline set by the court for removal, or for each new poster that may be placed, the CHEGA leader will have to pay a fine of €2,500, the sentence also ordered.
Judge Barão stressed that André Ventura’s right to freedom of expression and political freedom of expression is not being denied, but that he is required to exercise it with “responsibility in the sense of protecting the human rights of all – and in the sense of combating discrimination, particularly racial or ethnic discrimination”.
Right now, there are those saying that this decision practically ensures that André Ventura will get through to the second round of voting for Portugal’s next president on January 18
The Techari association may feel that it has been vindicated – but the court ruling has given CHEGA yet another opportunity to ‘lament’ what it feels are the ‘woke principles’ being allowed to eat away at democracy.
Source: Observador/ Lusa/ SIC Notícias
