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.”