Neo-Nazi group “planned attack on PM’s home”

Portuguese authorities believe members of the neo-Nazi Movimento Armilar Lusitano (MAL) extremist group rounded up last year was planning to attack the Lisbon apartment of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.

According to details contained in an indictment filed by the Central Department for Investigation and Criminal Action (DCIAP), members of the group exchanged messages in which they discussed monitoring the apartment block where the PM lives during the early months of last year.

Investigators allege that the group’s leader, Bruno G. – at the time employed by Lisbon’s Municipal Police – gained access to confidential information identifying the building as being under permanent protection by the Public Security Police (PSP) personal security unit. Prosecutors say he also obtained the identity of one of the officers assigned to Montenegro’s protection detail.

According to the indictment, one MAL member wrote that the situation required a “planned discussion”, adding that “the lad” would eventually enter and leave the building. Members of the group allegedly arranged surveillance activities outside the residence, say reports today.

The investigation further claims that while one member rejected the idea of kidnapping the prime minister, another suggested firing a 37mm grenade into his apartment. Prosecutors stress the proposal never progressed beyond discussion.

In fact, the alleged attack plan was later abandoned after Bruno G. reportedly informed fellow members that the PM was not even living in the apartment at the time, but staying at a hotel in Lisbon.

These latest revelations add to a broader investigation into the far-right organisation, which authorities accuse of discussing attacks against a number of others, as well as state institutions.

According to Correio da Manhã, also on a list of personalities allegedly considered threats or targets was former president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, former Socialist prime minister António Costa, former president Cavaco Silva, visionary news mogul Francisco Pinto Balsemão (now deceased), Rui Tavares (of the left-wing LIVRE party), lawyer Ricardo Sá Fernandes, former Bloco de Esquerda MP Mariana Mortágua and writer Miguel Sousa Tavares, among others.

Documents from the investigation released last year reveal repeated conversations within closed Telegram groups about targeting parliament. The threats were taken seriously enough for parliamentary security officials to discuss tightening rules governing access, circulation and security inside the building.

A formal indictment against defendants rounded up last summer was filed late yesterday by prosecutor Cláudia Almeida Porto (a specialist in terrorism-related crimes), with nine now formally accused of 29 crimes, centering on terrorism.

The charges were submitted just two days before four of the suspects were due to reach the maximum period permitted for pre-trial detention, raising the prospect of their release back into society.

The case has become one of Portugal’s most significant investigations into alleged far-right extremism, concludes Expresso today.

Source: Expresso/ Executive Digest

Natasha Donn

Journalist for the Portugal Resident.