Volt Portugal requested the extinction of ADN claiming that the party “supports fascist ideology”

In a letter addressed to the Ombudsman, Volt Portugal requested the opening of a case with the Constitutional Court “for the extinction of the ADN party [Alternativa Democrática Nacional]”. Signed by co-leader Duarte Costa (along with Ana Costa), the document also requests a precautionary measure to prevent ADN from participating in the European elections on June 9 – in which it competes with psychologist and commentator Joana Amaral Dias as head of list.

Volt Portugal also requests “the requisition” of the public subsidy of 340 thousand euros attributed to the party led by Bruno Fialho, corresponding to the results achieved in the legislative elections on March 10.

According to Volt Portugal, ADN failed to comply with Law No. 64/78, which prohibits fascist organizations in Portugal. At stake are several positions taken by the party over the last few years, but the “decisive moment” came following statements by President Bruno Fialho who, in a podcastsuggested sending “pedophiles”, “foreign criminals”, “deputies”, “Mamadou Ba” and “everyone from the extreme left” to Tarrafal, referring to the concentration camp created by the Estado Novo, which operated between 1936 and 1974 , on the island of Santiago, in Cape Verde.

TO VISION, Duarte Costa justifies this action with the fact that Volt Portugal “was born to put an end to all types of extremism and populism in Europe”. This step is seen by the leader as “part of the party’s work in Portugal”. “We defend freedom of expression, but the limits of this freedom are defined by law. We consulted legal experts, and concluded that these limits had clearly been exceeded and that it was time to move forward with this action. Volt Portugal only activated the Rule of Law”, he adds.

Duarte Costa claims to “have good perspectives” regarding this process, recalling that there is “a precedent” in Portugal: in 1992, the Attorney General’s Office considered that it had sufficient evidence to request the Constitutional Court to extinguish the National Action Movement (MAN ), for “defending fascist and racist ideas and seeking to overthrow democracy, unconstitutional characteristics”. The far-right group ended up dissolving itself and the judges at Ratton Palace did not rule on the case.

“They are the fascists”, accuses Bruno Fialho

Contacted by VISÃO, Bruno Fialho “regrets that the people at Volt Portugal do not respect citizens’ freedom of expression”, arguing that what was said in the podcast it was “just humor, around a situation that already belongs to the past, which didn’t offend anyone, much less tried to equate past and present situations”. “Today, these people would try to ban a series like ‘Alô, Alô’ [sitcom britânica transmitida entre 1982 e 1992, que satirizava a ocupação de França pela Alemanha nazi]. Who was in that podcast it was Bruno Fialho-citizen, not DNA, not Bruno Fialho-politician”, he emphasizes.

The president of the ADN considers that the complaint presented “is just a desperate attempt to [o Volt Portugal] to appear”. “We are talking about a party that has no expression in Portugal, which is sponsored by globalists who want to destroy freedom of expression and everything we know in Portugal and in Europe. They are the fascists!” he accuses. “I understand what’s going on… Volt Portugal just wants to ‘surf the wave’ because they know that, today, DNA is in the big leagues”, he adds.

It should be remembered that the ADN occupied the seat of the Republican Democratic Party (PDR), founded in 2014 by the former president of the Bar Association and former MEP António Marinho e Pinto. Renamed as ADN in 2021, the party chaired by Bruno Fialho has stood out by adopting anti-system and counter-current positions, with emphasis on the challenge against the vaccination process for Covid-19. DNA claims that “excessive mortality” associated with these vaccines is occurring around the world. The party has been taking positions associated with populist radical right policies, particularly on issues such as immigration and security.

A big surprise in the last legislative elections, the ADN received more than 102 thousand votes, ten times more than in the previous elections (it had only obtained 10,911 votes in 2022). The Democratic Alliance (AD) even complained about confusion in the acronyms, which could justify this growth, but this version was always rejected by Bruno Fialho. True, the result was worth a public subsidy to the party of almost 340 thousand euros.