Portugal’s president accused of treason after calling for slavery reparations

A FAR-right political party’s proposal to charge Portugal’s president with treason for supporting slavery reparations has been dismissed. The proposal by the country’s conservative right-wing Chega political party was dismissed by Portugal’s parliament on Wednesday. Last month, the president, Macelo Rebelo de Sousa, made comments on reparations and suggested his country could use several methods to pay reparations, including cancelling the debts of former colonies. Despite the comments from the president, Portugal’s government rejected the idea of paying reparations for its role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. “Parties are free to propose whatever they want,” Rebelo de Sousa said, adding it was “part of democracy”. The president’s comments sparked heavy criticism from right-wing parties, including Chega, who suggested a criminal lawsuit against the president for treason, according to Reuters. “The president’s statements represent a profound betrayal of our history,” Chega’s leader Andre Ventura told parliament. All parties said they would not support the proposal by Chega – which is Portugal’s third-largest political party – and without the backing the case cannot progress. Slavery Between the 15th and 19th century, over six million Africans were forced into slavery and transported across the Atlantic by Portuguese ships to work on plantations mainly...