Rossio protest today at 5pm against police violence and for housing after overnight clearance; detainees face court Monday
The Acampada de Lisboa movement is calling people back to Rossio today, 1 November, at 5pm to protest against police violence and for affordable housing. Overnight from Saturday to Sunday, police cleared the movement's tent camp from the square. According to the organisers, more than 30 people were hurt during the night and ten ended up in hospital. By their count, this is the third time in less than three weeks that the camp has been broken up (Jornal de Negócios).
According to the PSP police, 13 people were arrested overnight: six in Lisbon and seven in Porto. Thirteen police officers were injured and eight were taken to hospital; the police have not said how many protesters were hurt. All those arrested were released in the morning. The six arrested in Lisbon were released on an identity and residence undertaking and must appear before the investigating judge at the Campus de Justiça court complex at 2pm on Monday, 2 November. The seven arrested in Porto are due at the local court for minor offences at 10am the same day; their lawyer believes they will most likely be charged with disobeying the authorities (Notícias ao Minuto).
In Porto, after the protesters were cleared from Avenida dos Aliados, a plain-clothes police officer pointed a gun at them. The PSP says the protesters recognised four plain-clothes officers and beat three of them, and that the fourth was defending himself (Jornal Económico).
President António José Seguro has asked the government and the Ombudsman (Provedoria de Justiça) to explain "in full detail" what happened during the night and what the situation is of those arrested and injured. That morning he had already spoken to the prime minister, Luís Montenegro, and to the Ombudsman, Luísa Neto (Notícias ao Minuto). Even before the camp was cleared, the president had convened the Council of State (Conselho de Estado), the president's advisory body, for Monday, 2 November, to discuss social cohesion amid the housing protests (DN).
The interior minister, Luís Neves, said that neither the state nor the police want violence, but when bottles are thrown at officers and they are sprayed with aerosol cans, the police have to do their job. He said he has full confidence in the PSP (DN). The protesters' lawyer, Ricardo Sá Fernandes, called it "a black night in the history of Portuguese democracy" and said he would file a complaint with the public prosecutor's office accusing the minister and the PSP's national director of abuse of power (Observador).
