Protester holds sign saying ‘Say no to racism’ at anti-racism protest
Lisbon:
Hundreds of anti-racist protesters stormed one of Lisbon’s main squares on Friday to demand justice for Bruno Cande, a black actor shot dead on a busy street last weekend.
Cande, 39, of Guinean origin, has been shot and killed several times by a white man in his eighties in Avenida de Moscavide, about 10 km from downtown Lisbon, police said.
A suspect has been arrested and is awaiting trial.
The Portuguese police agency responsible for criminal investigations, PJ, has not confirmed what motivated the attack.
Cande’s family said in a statement on Saturday that the suspect threatened to kill him three days before the shooting and used racist slurs.
“Why are we here and unable to live in peace? We work, pay our taxes. Why are they still killing black people?” Sofia Rodrigues, a 32-year-old protester, asked among the crowd.
During the peaceful protest, protesters wearing masks due to the coronavirus outbreak held signs saying “Justice!” and “Racism kills!”
In Guinea-Bissau, lawmakers passed a motion saying the murder was racially motivated and said they would send a delegation to find out what happened to Cande.
The case shed light on racism in Portugal, including friction with the police.
“From the authorities to everyday life, Portugal remains a racist country,” said Eduardo Henriques, 65, also present at the demonstration.
The main European human rights forum, the Council of Europe, said in a 2018 report that there were numerous serious accusations of racist violence by the Portuguese police.
Last year, a court found eight officers guilty of kidnapping and beating six young people from Cova da Moura, a predominantly black neighborhood on the outskirts of Lisbon.
There are several poor neighborhoods around the capital where migrants mainly live from the former African colonies of Portugal.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
