Saturday, January 25, 2025 - A far-right politician in Portugal has been accused of stealing suitcases at several airports and kicked out of his political party as a result, the party has said.
According
to several news outlets in the European nation, police questioned Miguel Arruda
on Tuesday, January 21, at Lisbon airport and charged him with luggage theft
after some of the missing suitcases were allegedly found at his home.
The
40-year-old man denied any wrongdoing, telling the broadcaster TVI on Thursday:
“I am being crucified on the public square … but until proven otherwise, I am
innocent.”
Arruda,
who decided to remain in the assembly as an independent, asked for his
parliamentary immunity to be lifted.
Members
from his former party Chega booed Arruda during Friday’s parliamentary session.
The assembly president, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, told Arruda to sit at the
back of the chamber, where unaffiliated lawmakers are typically seated.
Local
media reported that police had camera footage allegedly showing the politician
taking his suitcase and a second, smaller one off the baggage carousel and then
putting the second one into his own. Some media outlets alleged that
Arruda had sold the contents of the suitcases online.
Arruda
defended himself by saying the video surveillance footage could have been
generated by artificial intelligence.
Prosecutors
“confirm only that steps have been taken as part of an investigation … relating
to facts that have nothing to do with his official duties”, a spokesperson for
the prosecutor general’s office told Agence France-Presse on Friday.
The
president of Chega, André Ventura, said on Thursday after a meeting with
Arruda: “Faced with these circumstances … I can’t allow him to remain in the
parliamentary group.”
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