Portuguese riot police cleared housing protest encampments in Lisbon and Porto early Sunday, arresting 13 people amid clashes over the country’s housing crisis, according to an AFP report published by The Punch Nigeria.
Officers carrying batons and accompanied by dogs moved into Lisbon’s Rossio Square and Porto’s Dom Joao I Square. The camps had been established late Saturday following peaceful marches against rising housing costs.
The activist group Acampada Lisboa said more than 30 protesters were injured, with 10 requiring hospital treatment. It blamed police violence and called for another demonstration in Lisbon on Sunday afternoon.
Police said six people in Lisbon and seven in Porto were arrested for refusing to disperse. They reported injuries to 13 officers, eight of whom were taken to hospital, and acknowledged civilian injuries without giving a number. Police defended the operation as respecting citizens’ rights.
Police also alleged that some demonstrators threw bottles and paint. In Porto, they said three plain-clothes officers were assaulted after protesters identified them, and that one officer displayed a firearm to deter the group.
Ricardo Sa Fernandes, a lawyer representing protesters at Lisbon’s camps, said he would file a criminal complaint alleging abuse of power against the interior minister and national police chief. Amnesty International had separately raised concerns about excessive force during the previous weekend’s camp clearances.
Demonstrators oppose the minority centre-right government’s proposals to make evictions easier and remove rent caps on new leases. Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has acknowledged that property prices doubled over a decade, while blaming earlier left-wing governments’ housing and migration policies for the crisis.