LISBON, Jan 20 (Reuters) – Portuguese police on Tuesday arrested 37 people suspected of belonging to an ultra-right group responsible for hate crimes, with links to similar international groups, in a large operation that involved around 300 officers.
“Those detained … promoted Nazi ideology, inherent to the national-socialist culture and the radical and violent extreme right, acting out of racist and xenophobic motives with the aim of intimidating, persecuting and assaulting ethnic minorities, namely immigrants,” the Judicial Police said in a statement.
Searches found weapons of different kinds and neo-Nazi propaganda materials.
Police sources said the group in question was “1143”, named after the year Portugal became a kingdom. The group’s leader, Mario Machado, is serving a prison sentence after being convicted of racial discrimination, hate speech and related violence.
In June, police arrested several suspected neo-Nazis believed to be seeking to create an illegal armed militia, and seized firearms and explosives.
Human rights groups have long raised concerns about increasing hate speech and attacks against immigrants in Portugal, where the far-right, anti-immigration party Chega last year became the second-largest parliamentary group – 50 years after the country overthrew its fascist dictatorship.
On Sunday, Chega leader Andre Ventura came in second in the first round of a presidential election, proceeding to a runoff against Socialist candidate Antonio Jose Seguro.
(Reporting by Andrei Khalip; editing by Aislinn Laing and Paul Simao)
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