Group travelled up to Lisbon from Vila Nova de Milfontes, SW Alentejo
With the official word from police being that ‘motive for the disturbances among foreigners in Martim Moniz on Sunday has not yet been established’, the leader of the Bangladeshi community in Portugal has stressed it is related to a power struggle between rival groups.
Speaking exclusively to Expresso, Rana Taslim Uddin explained that some of the people who took part in the violence in Largo do Intendente and Martim Moniz came from Vila Nova de Milfontes, in the Alentejo, to ‘settle accounts’.
They work in the SW Alentejo’s ‘agricultural explorations’, characterised by hectares of plastic-covered greenhouses.
“We still haven’t managed to understand the reason for all the violence, but we know that it is related to leadership conflicts, internal problems between them, and also links to different Bangladeshi parties,” he said.
The skirmish saw four people requiring hospital treatment, at least two for stab wounds.
For the time being, Uddin does not believe that the attacks are related to drug trafficking or street vending. But he said he prefers to wait for more internal information within the community before elaborating further.
Farid Partwary, correspondent in Portugal for the Dhaka Post newspaper, and also a translator and social worker for the Bangladeshi community, emphasises that the conflict took place in Largo do Intendente, and not in Rua do Benformoso, as has been reported.
He tells Expresso that the red stains on the ground filmed by television stations were not blood but ‘pan-supari’, a sweet that is very popular on the Indian subcontinent and is spat out onto the ground, leaving a mark similar to blood…
Officially, the PSP take on Sunday’s brawl is that the first they became aware of it was when four men ‘showing signs of having been assaulted’ went to the PSP police station in Rua Palma to ‘ask for support’ – which according to PSP commander Iuri Rodrigues shows ‘confidence’ in the police.
Officers then went to the scene, where there were three other injured people, two of whom had knife wounds and were transported to São José Hospital.
According to Rodrigues, “there was some violence”, with “broken teeth, assaults with a knife on a leg and stomach, cuts to the head”, also caused by a knife, but also by “metal objects” (bars).
So far, no arrests have been made.
“Based on the information I have, it is very unlikely that there will be any arrests. The seven people who were assisted appear to be victims and are therefore not in custody,” Iuri Rodrigues added.
The PSP will “look into this in depth”, to ‘try to understand (who were) the perpetrators of the attacks’ and take the case to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, he added. To this end, the police are listening to the victims and will analyse other evidence, namely a video released over social media, and listen to witness accounts.
The police have meantime reinforced their presence in the Martim Moniz area, something commander Rodrigues said was already planned, as well as in other areas of the city, such as the Arroios Market and Bairro Alto. ND
Source material: Expresso
