Chega introduced a bill in the Assembly of the Republic on Thursday that would apply an anti-terrorism sanctions regime to anyone who is a repeat offender of a wildfire-related offense. The prescribed limits of punishment vary from two to ten years in prison.
An amendment to article 274.º-A is being considered, where paragraph 4 proposes the following wording: “Whoever commits the intentional offense of forest fire, to whom effective imprisonment is specifically to be applied, and has previously committed the intentional offense of arson to which a penalty of form of imprisonment or alternative punishment, is punishable by imprisonment for a term of two to ten years or a punishment corresponding to the crime committed, with an increase by one third of the minimum and maximum limits, if it is equal to or higher.
André Ventura’s party justifies this increase in punishments for repeated arson, equating them with punishments for terrorism, by saying that “anyone who sets fire and destroys should be considered a terrorist.”
In this bill, which will be discussed and voted in Parliament on a date yet to be determined, Chega recalls that between January 1 and October 15, 2022, forest fires have consumed more than 110,000 hectares, which is the largest area on fire since 2017. , and more than three times the area burned in 2021.
“Last year, there were 10,449 rural fires, that is, compared to 2021, the number of fires increased by 37.3% (2,839 more), which is the highest figure since 2017,” the bill says. Remember again recent statements by Interior Minister José Luis Carneiro, according to which existing data and indicators indicate the likelihood that the risk of fire has increased by 40% compared to what existed in 2022.
“Given the number of rural fires and the area burned in 2022, it is appropriate to say that the outlook for this year in terms of fighting forest fires is disappointing,” Chega said.
It should be noted that only last year the authorities detained about 150 arsonists. Over the past 10 years, this number has exceeded 1400 people. The highest number of arrests was in 2017, when there were 193 arrests.
Author: Paul Joao Santos
Source: CM Jornal
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