Criminal Complaint Against Chega Leaders Set to Reach Attorney General's Office

Criminal Complaint Against Chega Leaders

A criminal complaint against three members of the Chega party is expected to be submitted to the Attorney General's Office as early as this Monday. The timing for the submission, which includes tens of thousands of signatures, depends on the schedule of the Attorney General, Amadeu Guerra. The accused are André Ventura, the party leader, Pedro Pinto, the parliamentary leader, and advisor Ricardo Reis. They face allegations of instigation to commit a crime, apology for criminal acts, and incitement to collective disobedience.

Delivery of signatures expected by Tuesday morning
Flávio Alberto - Lusa

At the beginning of this Monday, the number of signatories for the complaint against the three Chega leaders reached 117,000. The Public Ministry has already opened an investigation to determine whether the actions of the party leaders constitute incitement to hatred.

Miguel Prata Roque, one of the signatories of the complaint, explained last Friday what the actions of Chega's leaders could entail. He stated, "There was incitement to commit a crime, there was an apology for criminal acts, and there was also an offense to the memory of a deceased person."

He further elaborated, "When someone with political responsibility encourages the police to use weapons against citizens, they are inciting collective disobedience, which is also punishable under the Penal Code."

André Ventura's Reaction

On Saturday, during a speech in front of the Assembly of the Republic following a demonstration supporting the security forces, André Ventura claimed he was the target of an attempted arrest. He asserted that regardless of the outcome of the criminal complaint, Chega would carry out "the revolution" to end what he described as the "system of the last 50 years."

"It is the revolution, the true revolution we want to make in Portugal. There is no prison that can stop this revolution, because to imprison one of us, they will have to imprison all of us. They will have to put all of us in jail," stated the Chega president.

Earlier, he had complained about "a bunch of vandals destroying the country every night" and stated, "If I end up in prison, everything is wrong in this country, everything is wrong in democracy, everything is wrong in the rule of law we defend."

The Chega demonstration was a response to another event held concurrently in Lisbon, demanding justice for the death of Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old man shot by a police officer in Cova da Moura, Amadora. Moniz's funeral took place on Sunday afternoon, attended by several hundred people who paid their respects.

Additional Information

The mass was held at Igreja da Buraca in the early afternoon and was attended by the mayor of Oeiras, Isaltino Morais.