Just Life Movement accuses Ricardo Leão of lying

The Just Life Movement reacted to the statements made by the Mayor of Loures this Tuesday night, who spoke of a "criminal network" in the Talude neighborhood, accusing the mayor of "lying" and trying to "discredit" their voices.

This Tuesday, Ricardo Leão “ used television to lie about the Vida Justa movement and the support given by the City Council to the residents of Talude,” said that entity in a statement published about an hour ago on social media .

The movement claims that Leão “went further: he insinuated that Vida Justa is a criminal network, in a shameful attempt to criminalize the civic and political participation of those who fight for justice,” the statement adds.

For Vida Justa, by trying to "link a social movement to crime," Rodrigo Leão "is using a dangerous strategy: discrediting and repressing popular organization, as if it were a crime to participate in political life and demand rights."

" We will not accept this attempt to silence us ," he concludes, emphasizing that they are not and never have been "a criminal network," but simply a group of fathers, mothers, young people, and the elderly organized to "guarantee dignity" for their families.

The president of the Loures City Council revealed that he filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office (MP) denouncing a “criminal web” of “selling stalls” in the Talude Militar neighborhood .

"They are selling shacks for two to three thousand euros per five square meters, with guaranteed electricity and water," said Ricardo Leão, at a summit organized by SIC Notícias, pointing out that between March and July "the number" of precarious housing in Talude Militar "quadrupled."

When asked by SIC Notícias journalists about what this "criminal web" is, Ricardo Leão said: "It's just one person, who's identified, and who also has a stall there." The mayor considered the case "very serious," which led to the filing of a complaint. "That's what's undignified," he said, lamenting that people have fallen "into this illusion."

At the same time, Ricardo Leão accused the Vida Justa movement of "harming the people" of Talude by "prohibiting them from speaking" to city officials. " Vida Justa is manipulating these families ," he noted, assuring that the city has been "talking to everyone" in Talude Militar since March, where the civic movement has supported residents, including by collecting donations.

"A problem had to be stopped," Ricardo Leão stressed, recalling that during his term in office he had already carried out "250 demolitions." The problem "isn't new," he stated, referring to an "uncontrollable" situation in which "the idea that illegal housing can be built" in Loures has become widespread.

Ricardo Leão also mentioned that nearly half of Talude Militar's residents are from outside the municipality — a fact that has been disputed by local associations.

The council “ensures all social support so [residents who have become homeless] do not sleep on the streets” and “offers accommodation for everyone”, and also guaranteed, “with all honesty”, that these people “sleep [outside] because they want to”.

The mayor said he requested a meeting with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro in March and is still waiting for a date.