Seguro Seeks a Full Account of the Night From the Government and the Ombudsman, as the Protesters' Lawyer Targets the Interior Minister With a Criminal Complaint

President António José Seguro has asked the Government and the Provedora de Justiça (the Ombudsman) for a detailed account of Sunday's predawn police operation against the housing-protest camps in Lisbon and Porto. On the same morning the PSP gave its own toll of 13 people detained and 13 officers injured, and a lawyer for the Lisbon protesters said he will file a criminal complaint against the Interior Minister and the PSP's national director.

The PSP (Polícia de Segurança Pública, the urban police) cleared the camps on Lisbon's Rossio and Porto's Praça D. João I at about 04:30, the third removal since 20 October. We reported the operation itself earlier this morning.

What the President asked for

According to an official source at the Presidency quoted by Lusa, Seguro requested "information and clarification, in full detail" about what happened at the protests in Lisbon and Porto and about the situation of the detainees and "all the people injured", Jornal de Negócios reported. He went to the Ombudsman because her office had sent monitors from the National Prevention Mechanism to watch the protests, Público reported. The Inspectorate-General of Internal Administration (IGAI) had already opened an inquiry into the earlier clearances.

The PSP's account

PSP spokesperson Sérgio Soares said six people were detained in Lisbon and seven in Porto, RTP reported with Lusa. All 13 injured officers were in Porto: ten from the riot unit and three from a four-strong plainclothes team on Avenida dos Aliados that, he said, was spotted and attacked by protesters. The fourth member of that team drew his firearm, which the PSP described as a "passive" use of the weapon, Notícias ao Minuto reported. In a statement the PSP said eight officers needed hospital care, that it knew of injured civilians but could not yet give a number, and that people on the Rossio threw bottles, fireworks and paint. It said the 13 were held for disobeying the order to disperse.

Counts from the other side differ. The Acampada de Lisboa movement said in a statement that more than 30 people were hurt, 10 of them taken to hospital; the Porto organisers' preliminary count was 35 lightly and three seriously injured. A source at Lisbon's São José hospital told Lusa it received five injured protesters.

Detainees and the complaint

The seven Porto detainees, four women and three men, were released at about 07:50 after a vigil outside the Heroísmo police station and must appear at 10:00 on Monday 2 November before the Porto local court for minor offences, their lawyer Tiago Machado told Lusa. He called the force used "excessive". The six held in Lisbon have also been released and go before a judge on Monday, according to their lawyer.

That lawyer, Ricardo Sá Fernandes, said he will file a criminal complaint (participação criminal) for abuse of power against Interior Minister Luís Neves and the PSP's national director, whom he named as Coelho de Moura, Observador reported. It is an announced complaint: no investigation has been opened.

Socialist MP and former PS leader Pedro Nuno Santos said nothing had happened to justify the charge. Left-wing MPs who stood between police and protesters on the Rossio called on Seguro to act, Público reported. New gatherings are called for 17:00 today on the Rossio and in Porto.

What it means for residents

Anyone who believes police mistreated them can complain to the IGAI online (a valid citizen card is needed online; forms can also go by post or email), or to the Ombudsman, who accepts complaints from anyone regardless of nationality or residence, but not anonymously.