THE PROSECUTION magistrate who has indicted 36 members of a Portuguese neo-Nazis group is facing threats on her safety and well-being.
The threats against Cândida Vilar from the Portuguese Hammerskins were posted on the internet in an open letter from its leader Mário Machado and his supporters, following the indictment on September 14.
Machado has been held in police custody since April following a massive operation by the Portuguese CID, Polícia Judiciária, which culminated in the seizing of dozens of illegal firearms and Nazis propaganda.
The ultra right wing racist and anti-Semitic nationalists have called upon their members “not to forget the name of Cândida Vilar”. Another supporter writes: “I am prepared to shed my blood and hope that you are prepared to do the same.”
Machado, who is serving a sentence for the murder of Alcino Monteiro in 1995, in Lisbon’s Bairro Alto, and now stands accused of 17 crimes, claims he is the victim of “political repression and is a political prisoner”. He also accused the Public Prosecutor of carrying out a campaign of revenge against him.
“Nationalists should never forget this person’s name, for this woman, and not the PJ, is responsible for the worst political repression and persecution in the past 30 years,” his message states.
The open letter, which depicts a stylised form of a she-devil complete with horns in black and red, is worrying magistrates at Lisbon’s criminal investigation courts department, Departamento de Investigação e Acção Penal de Lisboa.
Apart from threats written in blogs on the website, the authorities are also concerned that the skinheads have obtained sensitive information about the magistrates including details about family and private life and even holiday bookings.
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