The SOS Racismo association declared this Friday that the President of the Assembly of the Republic is unfit to remain in office, after declaring that the use of racially derogatory language is permissible within the framework of freedom of expression.
In its statement, SOS Racismo “calls on the prosecutor’s office to introduce legal procedures to properly investigate the conduct in question,” citing the provisions of Article 240 of the Criminal Code regarding the crime of discrimination and incitement to hatred.
“Freedom of expression can never serve as a screen to legitimize racism and cannot be above human dignity. The President of the Assembly of the Republic today did a disservice to democracy: he legitimized that the Assembly of the Republic can be used as an instrument for inciting hatred and criminal practices (…),” the statement said.
The document also states that Aguiar-Branco’s position “has not only legitimized all far-right hate speech, but will also serve to strengthen it” and that “the role of the President of the Assembly of the Republic is to defend the Constitution, the law and the fundamental rights of all people – first everything, the right to human dignity.”
This Friday in parliament, the leader of Chegi Andre Ventura had an incident when he questioned the 10 years planned for the construction of the new airport, saying: “We can be much better than the Turks, the Chinese, the Albanians, we will have an airport in five years “
Immediately, the leader of the BE Parliament, Fabian Figueiredo, asked to speak to defend that “the attribution of characteristics and stereotypes to the people should have no place in the democratic debates of the Assembly of the Republic.”
In response, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, stated that he did not agree with this point of view.
“I disagree because democratic debate is about ensuring that everyone can express their opinion exactly the way they want. According to the Chairman of the Assembly, the work is being carried out to ensure the free expression of the opinions of all deputies. This has nothing to do with the fact that I personally think that I will not be a censor of any of the deputies,” he said.
Socialist Party parliamentary leader Alexandra Leitan also asked for the floor to ask: “If a certain group says that a certain race or ethnicity is dumber or lazier, that’s okay too.”
“In my opinion, it can. Freedom of expression is enshrined in the constitution. The assessment of political speeches made here in this house will be given by the people in the elections,” replied the chairman of the Assembly of the Republic.
In a statement published this Friday, SOS Racismo claims that Andre Ventura committed the crime of discrimination and incitement to hatred, adding that “when someone states that “a certain race or a certain ethnicity is stupider, lazier or less worthy”, it is also will commit the same crime.”
The association highlights a moment when “racist and xenophobic narratives are spreading and a climate of very high hostility and criminalization of migrants and racialized people is growing” and calls for “the utmost rigor and political responsibility” in interventions, adding that parliament, as well as the representative of democracy, “ must be an example of civic qualities.”
SOS Racismo argues that it is “unacceptable” for parliament to portray nationalities and origins “in the light of derogatory, racist and xenophobic representations.”
“In the same way, it must not be allowed to make statements in the Assembly of the Republic that attack and undermine the rights to honor and dignity and that, above all, feed social perceptions that deprive people of protection and expose them to a concrete risk of violence and discrimination in your daily life.” , the statement adds.
In statements to reporters this afternoon, Aguiar-Branco defended that it is not his job to censor lawmakers’ positions or opinions, shifting possible criminal liability for parliamentary speech to prosecutors and even denying that he made a mistake. having allowed, Andre Ventura continued his intervention this morning, saying that “Turks are not exactly known as the hardest working people in the world.”
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.