Public prosecutor Luís Gil Caldeira admitted in a court filing dated this Wednesday that recent judicial reasoning from the Administrative Court of Lisbon could justify dropping cases against dozens of housing protesters detained in the Portuguese capital.
Lisbon Prosecutor Weighs Dismissing Cases Against Detained Protesters
The prosecutor’s dispatch focuses on 82 demonstrators arrested by the Public Security Police (PSP) during housing protests in Lisbon on October 20 and October 25. Authorities initially proposed a provisional suspension of proceedings for 45 days, requiring each person to pay 150 euros to a private social solidarity institution, with a deadline set for Friday. However, the new dispatch leaves alternative solutions open, including a full dismissal of the charges, with the Public Ministry admitting this hypothesis taking into account the grounds of a sentence from the Lisbon Administrative Circle Court regarding the protest at the Rossio. The sentence from the Lisbon Administrative Circle Court, made known on Monday, was handed down following a lawsuit filed by activist Renata Cambra against the Ministry of Internal Administration and the Lisbon City Council.
The shift follows a court decision handed down on Monday by the Administrative Court of Lisbon, which ruled in favor of activist Renata Cambra. That ruling authorized Cambra to keep a tent on Praça do D. Pedro IV, commonly known as the Rossio, until the state budget vote on November 24. Prosecutor Caldeira noted that the legal foundations of that administrative decision provide a basis to reconsider the criminal proceedings, adding that police proportionality must be weighed because “in the abstract, the ends do not justify all means,” and stating: “Without prejudice, of course, to the hypothesis of archiving, in view of the legal grounds set out in the Judgment handed down by the Lisbon Administrative Circle Court […].”
Legal Assessment of Tents and Police Conduct
In the dispatch, the Public Ministry determined that setting up tents on the Rossio and applying decree-law 310/2002 are “criminally irrelevant” and cannot support arrests, police measures, or penal action. Investigators also reported finding no specific evidence of violence against police officers that would warrant charges of resisting or coercing an official. The prosecutor's office archived the portion of the inquiry concerning inscriptions, paintings, and objects placed on the pedestal of the D. Pedro IV statue due to a lack of identifiable suspects for criminal damage.
Ricardo Sá Fernandes, a lawyer representing several of the defendants, told the newspaper Expresso this afternoon that the decision marks a positive turn for the defense. He stated that the Public Ministry is clearly dismissing any indication of violence against police while keeping the possibility of dismissing disobedience charges wide open. “The defense of the fundamental rights of assembly and demonstration is on the right track,” he added. Meanwhile, the Inspectorate-General of the Internal Administration (IGAI) is separately investigating the regularity of the police operations.
Did You Know? The police operations on October 20 and October 25 resulted in the detention of 82 individuals during demonstrations centered around housing rights in Lisbon.
Next Steps in the Judicial Process
The active criminal inquiry now proceeds exclusively on the question of alleged disobedience to police dispersal orders. The prosecutor has requested available video footage of the Rossio operations from law enforcement to evaluate potential disobedience offenses for any future trial. Defendants face a scheduled appearance on Friday, November 6, at 9:30 a.m. to accept or reject the previously offered provisional suspension, though the new dispatch indicates that full archiving remains a viable legal outcome.
Public Prosecutor Weighs Dismissing Housing Protest Cases
Why might the public prosecutor dismiss the cases against the housing protesters?
The prosecutor indicated that the legal reasoning behind a recent administrative court decision—which allowed an activist to keep a tent on the Rossio until November 24—undermines the criminal relevance of the camp set up during the housing protests.
What specific charges remain under investigation by the authorities?
The investigation now focuses strictly on the alleged disobedience to police orders to disperse during the demonstrations, after authorities dropped inquiries related to property damage and found no evidence linking specific individuals to violence against police officers.
What was the original resolution proposed to the detained protesters?
The Public Ministry initially offered all 82 detainees a provisional suspension of their process for 45 days, contingent upon a payment of 150 euros to a private social solidarity institution, with a response deadline originally scheduled for Friday.