President of the Chamber denounces that an “organized group” of 20 people was responsible for the bus being set on fire in Seixal
The president of the Seixal Municipal Council expressed concern today about the contempt recorded in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon, one of which was in Arrentela, carried out by “an organized group of around 20 people”.
Speaking to the Lusa agency, Paulo Silva (elected by the CDU) said that, according to the data he has, “an organized group of around 20 people ordered the bus to stop in Arrentela, made the passengers and the driver get out, and watered the vehicle with fuel”.
This was, according to the PSP, one of the two buses set on fire in the early hours of today, in the municipalities of Seixal (Setúbal district) and Loures (Lisbon district), in addition to the other two burned the previous night in Amadora and Oeiras , as part of the contempt recorded since Monday night.
The protests take place following the death of Odair Moniz, shot by a police officer in Amadora in the early hours of Monday.
“Despite being a large group, there were no further incidents in the municipality, which suggests that they were not from here and that they came here to commit this contempt”, said Paulo Silva, remembering, however, that there were burnt containers in Miratejo, parish of Corroios, with the fire immediately put out by the population.
The mayor of Seixal, who was speaking to the Lusa agency moments before the meeting of the Lisbon Metropolitan Council scheduled for this morning, said he was concerned about the entire situation occurring in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML).
Paulo Silva said that the right to protest is constitutional, but that nothing justifies violent acts like those that occurred.
“The right to protest is constitutional. All people must exercise it, but within constitutional limits and without violence and episodes that put people and property at risk,” he said.
Odair Moniz, 43 years old and resident of Bairro do Zambujal, in Amadora, was shot by a PSP agent in the early hours of Monday, in Bairro da Cova da Moura, in the same municipality, and died shortly afterwards, at Hospital São Francisco Xavier, in Lisbon.
The protests triggered by his death began in Zambujal, on Monday night, and spread, since Tuesday, to other neighborhoods in the AML.
In total, more than a dozen people were detained. In addition to a bus driver who suffered serious burns (in Loures), some citizens were seriously injured and two police officers received hospital treatment.
According to the PSP, Odair Moniz “ran away” in a car after seeing a police vehicle and “got into trouble” in Cova da Moura, where, when approached by the agents, “he resisted arrest and tried to attack them with the use of a bladed weapon”.
The SOS Racismo association and the Vida Justa movement contested the police version and demanded a “serious and impartial” investigation to determine “all responsibilities”, considering that “a culture of impunity” in the police is at stake.
The General Inspectorate of Internal Administration opened an urgent investigation and the PSP also announced an internal investigation, while the agent who shot the man was named a defendant.
