Chega saw its desire to sue the President of the Republic for alleged treason frustrated, after the parliamentary committee dedicated to the subject concluded that there was no "evidence of the crimes of treason" or coercion against a constitutional body and Parliament criticized the proposal.

Since April 23, when Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that the "costs" of Portuguese colonialism must be "paid", Chega has made several criticisms, making a banner of the repudiation of these words and filing a request to prosecute the President of the Republic for the crimes of treason, coercion against constitutional bodies and usurpation. However, the proposal ended up being frustrated and criticized by all parliamentary groupss, after weeks of public debate on the matter.

In the debate on the subject, on Wednesday, in the Assembly of the Republic, Chega addressed the "former combatants of this homeland", who "felt hurt and humiliated by the President's statements", as well as those who "had to return from the former colonies - without a heritage to support them". "Wanting to make this generation of men and women pay for facts that happened 500, 600 or 300 years ago is not only a criminal irresponsibility of the President of the Republic, but should shame this Republic", said the party leader, André Ventura.

On the other hand, deputy Regina Bastos, from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), argued that "freedom of opinion is the oxygen of democracy", criticizing the existence of "forbidden subjects and legitimate censorship for some who cannot accept this freedom".

From the Socialist Party (PS), deputy Pedro Delgado Alves accused Chega of seeking "cleavage in a subject that is difficult and that deserved more respect" and of "lack of notion and lack of respect for the country's intelligence", in "yet another desperate search for attention".

One of the most anticipated opinions of the day came from CDS-PP, as it was one of the parties most critical of the President of the Republic's words in question. "I will not waste another second with an initiative that is politically insane, legally ignorant and institutionally childish", said the centrist parliamentary leader Paulo Núncio.

The debate on possible reparations for the former colonies served for the different parties to criticize Chega in unison, and the Liberal Initiative (IL), represented by its leader, Rui Rocha, accused the party led by André Ventura of "hysterical" and "hypocritical" reactions, accusing it of "collective imputations of guilt".

The Left Bloc (BE), represented by deputy Joana Mortágua, left a question in the air: "Is it all fear?". "The President would risk 10 years in prison" if he faced such a process, continued Mortágua, questioning Chega whether "this is the penalty for those who have a different opinion" from the party.

At the same time, Rui Tavares, from Livre, accused Chega of using terms that show "total disrespect and ignorance about the history of Portugal" and António Filipe, from the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), censured a debate that he said had served so that Chega would have "a few more hours of airtime on television".

The sole deputy Inês Sousa Real from People Animals Nature (PAN) considered that Chega used Parliament "in an abusive way", accusing its deputies of not wanting to "solve problems". "They only want scandals, mud fights", she continued.

There is no "evidence of the crimes of treason, coercion against a Constitutional body or similar"

At the end of the afternoon, the report of the parliamentary committee that investigated Chega's accusations was released and concluded that "there is no evidence of the crimes of treason, coercion against a Constitutional body or similar".

The report cited by the Lusa agency states that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa "did not use his functions, with or without flagrant abuse of them, to usurp other sovereign powers or favor, in any way, any foreign State". He also did not "practice any public or private act with the potential to harm the sovereignty of the Portuguese State".

The document was written by the PS deputy Isabel Moreira, who says that "there was no attempt to separate the State, to hand it over to a foreign country or to try to submit Portugal to foreign sovereignty, in part or in whole, nor was national independence offended or endangered".

The statements of the President of the Republic in question, about the colonial period, made in a meeting with foreign media outlets, on April 23, are the following: "We are responsible for what we did there, and we continue to be. It is not to apologize and it is over, we are friends, no. What we did there, in the massacres, had costs. The costs must be paid. It is still possible to pay today, it is paid. These are goods that were plundered and were not returned, when it was proven that they were plundered. So let's see how we can repair this".

Under the terms of article 308 of the Penal Code, the crime of treason is committed by "whoever, through usurpation or abuse of sovereign functions: a) tries to separate the motherland or hand over to a foreign country or submit to foreign sovereignty the entire Portuguese territory or part of it, or b) offends or endangers the independence of the country".

Article 328 of the Penal Code establishes that "insulting or defaming the President of the Republic" constitutes the crime of offense against the honor of the President of the Republic and "is punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years or by a fine", and when "the insult or defamation is made through words spoken publicly", the penalty is aggravated to "from 6 months to 3 years or by a fine of not less than 60 days".

Read Also: Report concludes that there is no evidence that Marcelo betrayed his homeland (Portuguese version)