Lawyer António Garcia Pereira – a former leader of the Portuguese Communist Workers’ Party – has filed a complaint against CHEGA, and is calling for the party to be banned for violating the Constitution.
The 72-year-old, himself a former candidate to the presidency of the Republic, says there is clear evidence of racism and incitement to hatred in the presidential campaign posters of CHEGA leader André Ventura.
In his complaint sent to the Attorney General, he also says that he finds the ‘lack of action by the judiciary’ strange.
Garcia Pereira’s complaint comes in the wake of the controversy caused by Mr Ventura’s campaign billboards.
In spite of entreaties by presidential candidate Luís Marques Mendes (who said no one should add any more fuel to this fire) Garcia Pereira says the billboards are part of a strategy to persecute minorities.
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office must do what it should have already done, which is to initiate the appropriate procedure with the Constitutional Court to declare the dissolution of a fascist organisation,” he explains, citing Article 46 of the Constitution, which states that racist organisations or those that defend fascist ideologies are not permitted.
The lawyer also points out that the Constitutional Court can decree the dissolution of parties in such cases: “This is exactly what is happening with CHEGA. The defence of the three Salazars, the continuous insults to the Roma community and immigrants (…). Therefore, the creation of an environment of discrimination and permanent incitement to hatred and violence.”
In his complaint, Garcia Pereira asks the Public Prosecutor’s Office to activate legal mechanisms to dissolve the party led by André Ventura – the second most voted party in May’s legislative elections.
The complaint was filed on the same day that Garcia Pereira presented further evidence to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in an ongoing case concerning hate crimes against Roma communities.
António Garcia Pereira is not just a Portuguese lawyer. He is a university professor and one-time leader of Portuguese Communist Workers’ Party/Reorganisational Movement of the Proletarian Party (PCTP/MRPP). In his youth, he was an active participant in the student movement that rose up against the dictatorship. With this kind of history, it is no surprise that he would be appalled by the inexorable rise of CHEGA.
UPDATE: Just as this text went up online, Lusa reported that SOS Racismo has also filed a criminal complaint against André Ventura for discrimination and incitement to hatred.
Source: SIC/ Wikipedia
