LISBON, Oct 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Thousands of people took to the main avenue of downtown Lisbon on Saturday to protest police violence, several days after a policeman shot a Cape Verde-born Portuguese resident, triggering a wave of unrest.
Rights group Vida Justa, which called the protest, changed the route to avoid clashes with supporters of the far-right anti-immigration party Chega, which held a separate smaller rally also in central Lisbon in support of the police.
Violence had broken out on the multi-ethnic outskirts of the capital after Monday’s shooting of Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old chef, in the Amadora suburb.
Demonstrators shouting “justice for Odair” carried posters bearing slogans such as “Stop killing us” and “Who to call when the killer is the police?”
Vida Justa said “violence and police impunity” must stop and people in the poorest suburbs cannot “be treated as non-citizens.”
Last year, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said it was concerned about excessive use of force by police in Portugal, particularly “against people of African descent.” — NNN-AGENCIES
