A man suspected of threatening to kill Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was detained by the Judicial Police in Lisbon on Tuesday, a source confirmed to Lusa.
In October, Rebelo de Sousa received death threats in a letter sent to the presidential residence that allegedly demanded payment of €1 million to avoid him being killed, CNN Portugal reported. The letter included a bank number for the transfer, as well as a bullet.
The envelope with the letter and the bullet were then sent to the counter-terrorism unit of the Judicial Police and was subjected to examination at the police forensics laboratory.
According to the TV station, the police operation involved strong security measures, since the detained suspect has a criminal record associated with violent crime. The man will now appear before a judge for his sentence.
In November, Rebelo de Sousa downplayed the situation, pointing out that he received more “threats” when he had a television show on RTP and TVI than since he has been president. “Who walks in this life, and I’ve been walking for 30 years, has this, at any rate, by the dozens. It happens. I don’t give it much importance”, he told CMTV.
“This happens sporadically, and no seriousness of the situation has ever been confirmed. Normally there is a case of disturbance or it is not even possible to investigate what it is about because they are anonymous letters,” he said.
“As I was away [in this case], the presidential services decided to communicate this to the Judicial Police”, he said.
(João Godinho | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
