The Portuguese group of left wing parties, Left Bloc has questioned the ministry of foreign affairs about the 19-day detention of a Portuguese citizen in Turkey on the grounds that he “appeared to be going to take part in an LGBTI+ march not authorised by the Turkish authorities”.
The case was made public by several media outlets on Thursday and refers to Portuguese citizen Miguel Álvaro, 34, who was detained by Turkish police authorities on 25 June.
“Is the foreign affairs ministry aware of this situation? Having been warned by the Portuguese Embassy in Turkey by Miguel Álvaro’s family, why has it never tried to contact him? Have any efforts been made to resolve the situation or not?”, ask the Left Bloc (BE) members.
The BE petition states that the Portuguese citizen “was grabbed by eight police officers, who assaulted him in the ribs and shoulder, having stayed, in total, 13 hours in a police van, without any information as to why he was being detained”, having then been transported to a police station and, finally, to Sanliurfa prison, where he stayed until 13 July.
“It was not until the week after 2 July that he was able to make telephone contact and let his father know where he was and that he had been detained. It was at that moment that the family, in shock, notified the Portuguese Embassy in Turkey. Now, in view of all these facts, the report that is made public by him is that the Embassy never visited him and there was no help of any kind “, adds BE.
The Bloc finds it incomprehensible “why there was no contact or attempt to help” by the embassy, arguing that, as soon as it was informed of this situation, it should have acted immediately.
“If it is true that it is known to all that Turkey is one of the countries that most attacks human rights, in particular of LGBTQIA+ people, and there is a Portuguese citizen arrested for “appearing to be gay” in this country, this Parliamentary Group cannot understand why there was no contact or attempt to help”.
According to the BE request, “it was eventually the non-governmental organisation Istanbul Pride that helped Miguel Álvaro to leave prison, having flown to Portugal on 13 July”, and he is currently in Brazil.
Portuguese arrested and tortured in Turkey for appearing gay
