Pedro Frazão, Chega deputy
Chega’s deputy claims that he did not know Pureza’s age; You don’t even remember if the publication was made by you or by someone who managed social media.
Chega’s deputy Pedro Frazão denied have the intention of defame the current coordinator of Bloco de Esquerda, using his Christian background to justify the use of the word “purity” in a social media post about harassment.
In the first trial session at the Lisbon Court, Pedro Frazão said he was “perfectly innocent”, He stressed several times that his intention was not to defame José Manuel Pureza and that he does not remember whether the publication was made by him or by someone who managed social media.
According to the Public Ministry’s indictment to which Lusa had access, deputy Pedro Frazão published, in 2021, on the social network ‘Twitter’ a video of “a young activist/sympathizer of the Bloco de Esquerda, in which she refers, in summary, to having been the victim of non-consensual sexual acts by an individual linked to the aforementioned party”.
Accompanying the video, deputy Pedro Frazão wrote: “Is there no longer any Purity in the Nasquereza Block? #MeToo.” And he further questioned, in a comment: “Who will be the disgusting 62-year-old?”
In response to a question from Public Prosecutor Rita Carmona, the Chega deputy explained that uses the word “purity” on several occasions and that it is used in homilies e liturgical acts: “I was talking about human virtue of purity. I have a Christian background. It’s a word that, for me, is common.”
Regarding the reference to 62 years old made in the publication, the Chega deputy wanted to emphasize that I didn’t know that the current coordinator of Bloco de Esquerda was, at that time, 62 years old and that he only learned his age when the complaint was made about the publication in question. “Just as I don’t know most of the ages of the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic”, he added.
Pedro Frazão said he did not remember making the publication, suggesting that it had been made by someone else: “I don’t remember if it was me who made the publication or if it was one of my network managers at the time.. The truth is that it was published on my account and the truth is that I relate to it.”
During the session, several political references were made, with Pedro Frazão questioning the independence of José Manuel Pureza’s lawyer, Carmo Afonso, and mentioning that the lawyer said in a comment space that Chega is a racist party.
“In my opinion, the Left Bloc is judicializing what should be political combat”, he added.
Pedro Frazão’s lawyer, José Gaspar Schwalbach, also considered that “the assistant [José Manuel Pureza] intended retaliate legally on behalf of your political party [Bloco de Esquerda]” and that this is a “politicization of a criminal process”.
At the end of the session, Pedro Frazão’s defense asked to show the video shared by the young woman who said she was the victim of non-consensual sexual acts and which was shared on the Chega deputy’s account.
In the year of publication, José Manuel Pureza held the position of vice-president of the Assembly of the Republic and was a deputy elected by the Left Bloc.
For the Public Ministry, Pedro Frazão “had perfect conscience” that José Manuel Pureza “belonged to the bodies of the Left Blocwho had been elected deputy by that party and who had 62 years of age.”
