Hot-on-the-heels of allegations that 1000 Portuguese high-school pupils trashed a Spanish hotel during a mid-term trip comes news from Antwerp, Belgium, that a group of teens visiting Portugal’s capital was subjected to “completely unprovoked” police brutality.
The complaint has been lodged by an Antwerp councillor, explains Correio da Manhã.
The school involved – Stedelijke Lyceum Lakbors – has purportedly accused PSP agents of having “intimidated and physically attacked several students without apparent reason”.
One of the students suffered a broken arm as a result of being “hit with a truncheon”, said the paper – for the time being giving no further details.
It is not even clear where the incidents took place – just that the complaints originate from events at the beginning of this week, during a “study visit” (visita de estudo).
According to CM, some students were even taken to the local police station, again “without there having been given any justification”.
Lisbon PSP has assured the paper that an investigation is underway, “to confirm the credibility of the reports”.
Belgian online media (deredactie.be) meantime claims the student most hurt is a “boy of ethnic minorities”, and that there are “many questions” now requiring answers.
Antwerp’s head of education Claude Marinower is insisting on a “complete investigation”.
