"Murderer": Gouveia e Melo recalls insults from deniers

Presidential candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo said this Thursday, at the trial of ten people accused of insults and attempted assaults on the former admiral and Ferro Rodrigues, that he remembers the insults he was subjected to, but refused to commit physical aggression.

In the second session of this trial, which began last week, Henrique Gouveia e Melo was the first witness to be heard, after his testimony was postponed due to lack of notification, and spoke about the episode that took place on August 14, 2021 , when he visited a vaccination center in Odivelas.

“When I arrived by car, I saw that there was a gathering, we parked the car and there were a group of people at the door. When they recognized me, they started shouting some slogans and insults”, described the former admiral.

At the request of the Public Prosecutor, Gouveia e Melo recalled the insults he heard when he arrived: “ Child murderer, genocidal and an insult to my mother .” At that time, he added, there was no physical violence.

Afterwards, on leaving, the former admiral said he had been advised by the PSP agents who were there to take the route through the underground car park, and Gouveia and Melo refused.

“I thought I should set an example,” he added, adding that he left protected by security.

Between the entrance and the exit, the current presidential candidate considered that “there was an increase in the number of participants in this mini demonstration”.

“People were really excited. In these crowd things, there are social behaviors that are more irrational,” he added.

Despite denying the physical aggression , Gouveia e Melo wanted to make it clear in court that, if there had not been police protection, the scenario would have been different: “The feeling I had was that if the police had not protected me, that excitement could have resulted in some physical aggression”.

The panel, presided over by Judge Sandra Carneiro, also asked Gouveia e Melo to look at the defendants present – ​​this second session included nine of the ten defendants – and say whether he recognized anyone. “I think I recognize some gentlemen, but I’m not completely sure,” said the former admiral, after walking along the first row of the room, where the defendants were sitting.

The trial of this case began last week, after the Central Examination Court of Lisbon decided, in December 2024, that there was sufficient evidence to bring to trial ten of the 12 defendants named by the Public Prosecutor's Office for the crimes of attempted aggravated assault, aggravated insult, aggravated threat and qualified damage in the completed form.

According to the indictment, the incidents at stake are those that occurred during the pandemic.

One of them occurred in August 2021, when denialist protesters shouted “murderer” and “genocidal” at Gouveia e Melo, then coordinator of the task force for the vaccination plan against covid-19, at the vaccination center in Odivelas.

The other happened a month later, near parliament, when they called the then president of the Assembly of the Republic, Ferro Rodrigues , a “pedophile” and “disgusting” when he was walking with his wife to have lunch at a nearby restaurant.

The Public Prosecutor's Office named twelve defendants, but some requested that an investigation be opened and Judge Sofia Marinho Pires decided not to indict two of the defendants, who were accused of attempted assault on the physical integrity of the then Admiral Gouveia e Melo.