“We all went hungry and thirst. We were handcuffed, we were blindfolded. (…) The cells were absolutely overcrowded,” said Miguel Duarte, who said some activists spent 48 hours without eating.
The four Portuguese who participated in the Global Sumud flotilha and were arrested by Israel last week had a euphoric reception in Lisbon near midnight.
Upon arrival, Mariana Mortágua, Sofia Aparício, Miguel Duarte and Diogo Chaves spoke to the press about their experiences at the time they were in the custody of the Israeli authorities.
“We have experiences of seeing comrades to be beaten. We had experiences of several hours handcuffed and to be provoked by the Israeli minister [Itamar Ben-Gvir]. We had experiments to stay in jaures, actually, ”said Mariana Mortágua.
“One thing that was very present in all of us is that we realized the difference in that arrest between being European and being Palestinian. As much as it was difficult for us, and it was, and however there was abuse, and there were many, it gave us an idea of the degree of impunity of Israeli forces against Palestinians. If they do this, imagine what do not do Palestinian prisoners,” he added.
Activist Miguel Duarte states that his experience was very similar to that of the remaining detainees
“We all went hungry and thirst. We were handcuffed, we were blindfolded. (…) The cells were absolutely overcrowded,” said Miguel Duarte, who said some activists spent 48 hours without eating.
“We have comrades with diabetes who had 3 days without insulin, we were put in jaura in the sun for a long time,” he added.
Miguel Duarte also mentioned that the bus-prisoning buses in which they were transported were “full of registration in Arabic, Palestinian prisoners who were there and will be there and who will suffer infinitely more than what we suffer in these prisons.”
In turn, Sofia Aparício said that the Israeli authorities tried to force the activists to sign two documents in Hebrew. “Obviously we didn’t sign,” said the actress.
