Director of the PJ says hate crimes are increasing
The national director of the Judicial Police (PJ) said this Tuesday that hate crimes are increasing in Portugal and promised a “fierce fight”, in particular, from the National Counterterrorism Unit (UNCT).
"Hate crimes are on the rise. These messages are widespread, particularly against women. They persecute them, they persecute people of other nationalities, other faiths, and other races," he reported.
Without presenting data, Luís Neves warned of the increase in this type of crime, after the PJ arrested a Portuguese-Brazilian citizen this Tuesday for allegedly committing crimes of incitement to hatred , such as offering payment for the death of a Brazilian journalist living in Portugal.
Regarding the case, the national director of the PJ considered unacceptable the recruitment and radicalization of young people, especially those “who attack women just because they are women, or who attack people of other origins.”
"We are talking about politically motivated crimes, and that is one of the major concerns, along with the violence that also results from the dissemination of these messages, often based on manipulation and 'fake news,'" he added.
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Highlighting the fight against hate crimes as one of the UNCT's objectives, Luís Neves also emphasized, addressing the far right in particular, that anyone who commits such crimes can expect "fierce combat from the PJ."
The UNCT arrested this Tuesday, in Vila Real, outside of flagrant crime, a man “strongly suspected of having spread on social media a publication in which he incites violence against a group of people of foreign nationality”.
In a statement, the PJ explained that in these social media posts the suspect “offered as a reward an apartment in the center of Lisbon [worth 300 thousand euros] to anyone who carried out a massacre and exterminated certain foreign citizens and an additional bonus of 100 thousand euros to anyone who attempted against the life of a Brazilian journalist working in Portugal”.
According to the PJ, the suspect has a history of crimes of discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence, and unspecified evidence relating to his ideological radicalism was seized during his detention.
In June, the PJ had already dismantled an armed far-right militia, with hundreds of ammunition, military weapons, some of which were produced using 3D technology, and explosives seized.
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