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With the rising expression of far-right extremism across de world, I decided it was time to summarise the main events and crimes associated to far-right in Portugal and to describe its main movements. A thread. 1/
In 1985 Movimento de Ação Nacional (MAN) was created. It disseminated national, ethnic and cultural values as well as white supremacy. Throughout its existence the group was known to be involved in violent clashes. 2/
May 1989 – João Grosso, an actor, was attacked while he tried to help a friend who was being assaulted. He was brutally injured and because of that he lost a testicle. 3/
October 1989 – José Carvalho, from Partido Social Renovador, a Trotskyist-oriented party, was murdered by an 18-year-old man with a knife in his chest. It was the first crime attributed to skinheads in Portugal. The perpetrator was sentenced to 12y. 4/ https://www.publico.pt/2001/03/21/sociedade/noticia/dez-anos-passados-sobre-condenacao-de-pedro-grilo-15745
In 1989 further people were assaulted by members of the group. Those attacks were motivated by political differences and racial discrimination. Because of this, the movement was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and that led to its extinction. 5/
10 June 1995 – Alcindo Monteiro, a Portuguese 27-year-old man born in Cape Verde, was brutally murdered in Lisbon by a group of 15 skinheads. 6/
10 June is the official Day of Portugal.The group had met to celebrate what they called the day of the “Portuguese race”. On that day, more people were attacked. Though explicitly a racially motivated crime, it was considered only homicide. 7/ https://observador.pt/especiais/alcindo-monteiro/
April 2007 – 36 skinheads of the Portugal Hammer Skins were accused of racial discrimination, aggression and other crimes. Of these, 23 were sentenced to prison. 8/
This was the first conviction of racial discrimination in Portugal. Some of the accused were involved in the death of Alcindo Monteiro. 9/ https://www.publico.pt/2008/04/07/sociedade/noticia/mais-de-tres-dezenas-de-skinheads-comecam-a-ser-julgados-por-discriminacao-racial-e-outros-crimes-1325057
August 2014 – a man was attacked by a group of skinheads because of his sexual orientation. 10/ https://www.sabado.pt/portugal/detalhe/pj-da-golpe-no-movimento-skinhead
September 2015 – a militant of the Portuguese Communist Party was assaulted when he left a political rally. He was seriously injured but survived and now lives with neurological sequelae. 11/ https://www.dn.pt/edicao-do-dia/18-mai-2020/comunista-vitima-de-skinheads-fiquei-desconfigurado-so-o-julgamento-vai-trazer-me-paz-12205047.html
January 2017 – anti-fascism supporter was attacked while he was at the airport and further assaults, including threats to his family, followed. 12/ https://www.dn.pt/edicao-do-dia/18-mai-2020/comunista-vitima-de-skinheads-fiquei-desconfigurado-so-o-julgamento-vai-trazer-me-paz-12205047.html
June 2020 – Public Prosecution Service accused 27 skinheads, belonging to Portugal Hammer Skins, of several hate crimes committed against at least 18 victims, because of their color, gender, political ideology and religion. 13/
Again, of the accused, some were involved in the murder of Alcindo Monteiro, clearly showing a consistent cell operating ever since. 14/
https://www.dn.pt/edicao-do-dia/16-mai-2020/gays-negros-e-comunistas-espancados-37-skinheads-sao-alvo-do-mp-12200331.html https://www.publico.pt/2020/06/13/sociedade/noticia/ministerio-publico-acusa-27-homens-crimes-raciais-homicidio-qualificado-1920471
https://www.dn.pt/edicao-do-dia/16-mai-2020/gays-negros-e-comunistas-espancados-37-skinheads-sao-alvo-do-mp-12200331.html https://www.publico.pt/2020/06/13/sociedade/noticia/ministerio-publico-acusa-27-homens-crimes-raciais-homicidio-qualificado-1920471
June 2020 – Europol, in its annual report, expresses concern over the presence of 3 far-right groups actively operating both in Portugal and abroad: Portugal Hammer Skins, Blood and Honour and neo-nazi political party Nova Ordem Social (recently dismantled by its founder). 15/
August 2020 – after threats were written in the walls of SOS Racismo association, a KKK-style crowd was seen parading next to its headquarters. After this, some MPs and the leader of SOS Racismo received threats sent via email, telling them to leave the country within 48h.16/16
