In an extraordinary about-turn, a man who went on the run for over a year, was initially condemned for murder, then absolved – but still condemned to a six-year jail term for attempted murder – has presented a criminal complaint for defamation against CHEGA leader André Ventura.
Clóvis Abreu, of Roma gypsy origin, claims Ventura’s discourse was not only unfitting of a man in his public position, but xenophobic, untrue, unacceptable, discriminatory and “third worldist”.
Abreu’s fury stems from a video André Ventura shared after Abreu was ‘absolved’ of the initial condemnation for murder of young PSP agent Fábio Guerra, outside a nightclub in 2022. It was a case that profoundly shocked the country, and saw two Naval Marines convicted of the murder. Abreu always maintained he had not been involved in the fatal attack – and eventually this is what judges agreed, absolving him of the murder, but keeping a six year sentence for the attempted murder of another PSP agent, and a ‘client’ of the Mome disco, where the agressions all took place.
Reacting to Abreu’s criminal complaint, André Ventura says it is “a scandal” and a “stain on justice and democracy”: “the bandit puts a political leader in court who reacted against his barbaric acts!”
The complaint «will now be ‘analysed’ by public prosecutors, who will decide whether or not to take it forward.
As to the content of the video posted by André Ventura, it showed him railing against what he suggested was preferential treatment given to the gypsy community. “It is unacceptable to sentence someone to six years in prison for assaulting a police officer in collusion with others. He turned himself in after a community negotiated with the state, as if the Roma had some privilege before the law or should have it”, said the CHEGA leader whose antipathy toward the Roma community is already well-documented.
Source material: SIC Notícias/ Sapo.pt
