Portugal’s Internal Administration Minister has defended the PSP’s intervention at a housing protest in Porto, insisting police acted lawfully after demonstrators refused orders to remove tents from Praça D. João I.
The confrontation took place shortly before 3am on Thursday, after a protest camp which had been in place since Saturday continued beyond the legal cut-off time for public demonstrations.
Housing campaigners say 37 people were injured, two seriously, and have accused police of using excessive force. The PSP confirms that protesters were injured, as was one police officer, but says it is still unable to confirm the overall number.
Speaking later this Thursday, Internal Administration Minister Luís Neves said the right to demonstrate was “an old, relevant and democratic right” which the government respected, but stressed that legal orders must also be obeyed.
“When orders are legal and legitimate, they must be carried out, and they must be carried out according to the need to restore that order – with necessity and proportionality,” he said. “And that is what was done.”
Neves said he regretted any injuries resulting from the police operation but maintained that “the action of the Public Security Police is an action grounded in law and is therefore legitimate”.
PSP says protesters resisted
New PSP national director Pedro Moura also defended the intervention, describing it as proportionate.
He said the demonstration had been authorised only until 12.30am and that tents were not permitted to remain in the square afterwards.
According to Moura, officers spent around two and a half hours speaking with those present and asking for the tents to be removed before taking action.
“Faced with the failure to comply with that order to remove the tents, it was decided to carry out a duly proportionate police intervention,” he said.
He added that there had eventually been a need for a “more forceful intervention to put an end to that illegality”.
“The situation was then normalised,” he said.
The PSP says some demonstrators showed “behaviours of resistance” and attempted to prevent officers from carrying out their duties. It has announced that an official report, together with video footage of the incidents, will be sent to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Protesters dispute police account
The housing movement rejects that version of events.
Group representative Pedro Manuel told RTP there was “no kind of provocation”, either physical or verbal, that justified the police intervention, and described the operation as involving “extreme, disproportionate and unjustified force”.
Protest to continue
The confrontation came after several days of protest over housing costs and access to affordable homes.
The encampment had remained in Praça D. João I since Saturday, despite earlier attempts by municipal authorities to remove tents.
Campaigners have already vowed to continue.
“We will return and we will remain,” Pedro Manuel said. A new gathering was called for 7pm in Praça D. João I.