António Cotrim / EPA
Mário Machado, arrested during the 25th of April celebrations this year, in Lisbon, is considered the leader of Group 1143.
Far-right criminal association linked to acts of discrimination and incitement to hatred, whose victims are immigrants from Islamic countries, target of PJ mega-operation across the country: Mário Machado is said to have given instructions from prison.
Early this Tuesday morning, the Judiciary Police (PJ) launched a mega-operation, from North to South of the country, to combat hate crimes committed against immigrantsconfirmed a source from the corporation.
According to the source, the operation started at 07:00 and at 09:30 it was still ongoing. The news reported that the PJ’s Counterterrorism Unit is carrying out a mega-operation to dismantle a far-right criminal association related to acts of discrimination and incitement to hatred, which its victims are immigrants from Islamic countries.
The PJ’s investigation focuses on the dissemination of messages and other xenophobic and racist content on social networks, which end in violent street actions with slogans inciting hatred against immigrant communities.
In a statement, the PJ states that, within the scope of the operation “Brotherhood”were constituted “an additional 15 defendants and 65 searches were carried out home and non-domestic operations.” In the operation, conducted by the National Counterterrorism Unit, around 300 members of the PJ participated.
The detainees, aged between 30 and 54, “adopted and spread the Nazi ideology, inherent to the national socialist and radical and violent extreme right culture, acting for racist and xenophobic reasons, with the aim of intimidating, persecuting and coercing ethnic minorities, particularly immigrants”. They are suspected of having founded the criminal organization, with a hierarchical structure and distribution of functions, “with the sole purpose of carrying out activities that incite discrimination, hatred and racial violence”.
The organization is “responsible for committing crimes of discrimination and incitement to hatred and violence, aggravated threats and coercion, attacks on qualified physical integrity and possession of prohibited weapons”.
The group would be preparing a campaign against Islam with the premise “Mohammed was a pedophile”, explains Correio da Manhã.
The role of Mário Machado
The well-known neo-Nazi Mario Machadowho is serving crimes of the same nature (in this case, incitement to hatred and violence against left-wing women in publications on social media) is considered the leader of this group, for which will have passed instructions from the chain.
PJ will also be conducting searches of Mário Machado’s own cellin Alcoentre prison, in Azambuja, Lisbon.
The attack on immigrants in Aveiras
Among those detained will be elements linked to Grupo 1143, the radical faction of Juve Leo (Sporting CP fans) and the Super Dragões, linked to FC Porto.
The arrests are also related to the attack, a few weeks ago, on an Indian immigrant at the service station in Aveiras, carried out by members of this neo-Nazi group. According to SIC and , according to the testimony of a person who was at the service station, the immigrant was drinking coffee when he was approached “aggressively” by an individual who asked him: “Do you know what this is here?”, pointing to the neo-Nazi movement t-shirt he was wearing. “Go to your homeland”, “you can’t live in this country”, he shouted to the immigrant.
According to , a member of Group 1143 also told the immigrant to kiss his shirt. One of the group members reportedly headbutted one of the two victims of Indian nationality present at the scene. Members of the group began throwing several punches and kicks at the two citizens. One of the attackers placed his foot on the victim’s head on the ground.
Tuesday’s detainees have scheduled their first judicial interrogation, to apply coercive measures, on Wednesday at the Lisbon Central Criminal Instruction Court.
