Items discussed in this program: German antifascist arrests and deportations •
Valencia square occupation for decent housing • Lisbon riots after police racist
killing • Escalation in Chiapas • UK budget and Labour’s capitalist cult of
growth • Tommy Robinson sentencing and the threat of fascist “victimhood”
The post Freedom News Review 29.10.2024 appeared first on Freedom News.
Tag - Portugal
WHILE THE COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS A PATTERN OF RACISM, VIOLENCE, AND POLICE
IMPUNITY, AUTHORITIES HAVE RESPONDED BY RAMPING UP POLICE PRESENCE
~ Mateo Sgambati ~
Nights of unrest have unfolded in Lisbon for the past week, following the police
killing on 21 October of Odair Moinz, a 43-year-old Cape Verdean father of two.
Authorities initially claimed that Odair was stopped while driving a “stolen
car”—which was, in fact, his own. They further alleged that a PSP officer opened
fire after Odair “resisted arrest and wielded a weapon in an attempt to attack
them”. However, this version of events was contradicted by CCTV footage.
The incident prompted dozens of residents from Zambujal, a neighborhood in
Amadora, to gather since last Tuesday afternoon on Rua das Galegas, near the
64th PSP Police Station, demanding justice for Odair’s death. During the
protest, a bus was set on fire, and police blocked residents from further
advancing. Clashes have since spread to other neighborhoods, including
Carnaxide, Sintra, Campo de Ourique, Loures, and Odivelas. Portuguese
authorities have intensified policing in the so-called “Sensitive Urban Zones”
and deployed Intervention Corps and Rapid Intervention teams.
Video: União Libertária
The SOS Racismo platform has condemned the killing as another case in the long
list of police violence by the notorious Public Security Police (PSP). According
to community activists, state violence has been normalised in the Portuguese
capital, with lax oversight and a culture of impunity defining how the PSP
operates in these situations. Police brutality has become a routine approach,
especially in areas inhabited by black people, where officers frequently
disregard legal protocols and regulations intended to govern their conduct.
This weekend, thousands of people took to the streets of Lisbon to demand an end
to police brutality, while right-wing groups seized the opportunity to make
themselves visible and call for the defence of the murderers. Rights groups
changed the route to avoid clashes with supporters of the far-right
anti-immigration party Chega, which held a separate smaller rally also in
central Lisbon in support of the police, Reuters reported.
The post Portugal: Riots in Lisbon after police kill father of two appeared
first on Freedom News.