Why Jardim hates the English

In the early 90's, when Jardim's party was beset with corruption scandals, Jardim began a more belligerent phase of his now 3 decade-long rule. With a tame TV and the Jornal under his control, the only news that bothered him was the Diário, half-owned by the Blandy family. Jardim needed a new fight to take the attention off the corruption and persecution scandals. He blamed the Diário and the English and set out on a hate-speech campaign, saying that the English wanted to return to the days of the dictatorship. He claimed there was no democratic opposition, that the Socialist Party had been infiltrated by the communist Party and wanted to install a totalitarian regime which would then be controlled by the English. He then set out to persecute and destroy the English and Anglo-descendent families by constantly vilifying them, destroying their businesses and expropriating their assets.

The campaign against the Diário then also began in earnest. He threatened those who put publicity in the Diário and ostracised all those who had any connection to the English. On many occasions over the last decades, he has threatened to expropriate the Diário itself and to find other means to run the 'foreigners' off the island. The English were the perfect scapegoats for all that went wrong. Like the Jews in Nazi Germany, they were portrayed as evil, shady characters, who were only interested in exploiting the Madeiran people. Like the Jews in Nazi Germany, Jardim used the law and state power to expropriate their assets, offering a symbolic compensation for them. The 'church' newspaper, the jardim-controlled Jornal, was one of the main vehicles for propagating this message. And 'cartoons' such as the one above showing the british flag and attacking the English have appeared on an almost weekly basis over the years

Jornal's veiled bomb threat to Journalists

The Jornal da Madeira issued a veiled bomb threat to the journalists Tolentino Nobrega of the Publico and Lilia Bernardes of the Lisbon Diário de Notícias.

The threat came in the anonymous daily cartoon Boca Pequena, which is often used by President Jardim to send messages promising retaliations, expropriations and inciting violence against particular targets. Once the threats have been carried out, they are complimented by a 'you had been warned message' in a follow-up cartoon.

In this cartoon, published on the 2nd of May, one character accused the two journalists of writing things against Madeira, the other replied that they would have to escape to the mainland 'after John's birthday'. The latter was the codeword for the FLAMA separatist terrorist movement's blowing up of the regional radio station in 1975.

The reference is common knowledge to all those who lived through this period, particularly to people such as Tolentino, who himself escaped a car bomb attack in those dark years of Jardim's rise to power.

City Councilor target of new acts of vandalism

The car belonging to the brother of city councilor, Gil Canha, was set alight at 1.30 Monday morning. The car was parked in the yard of the residence and was totally destroyed by fire. Gil Canha’s wife’s car was also vandalized the same night, in the indoor parking lot of the block of flats where he resides.

The Madeira Socialist Party leader, Vitor Freitas has alerted President Cavaco to the climate of violence and fear in Madeira, asking him to condemn those who incite violence.

The Funchal City Council today expressed its solidarity with the Canha family and condemned these acts of vandalism and persecution

Jardim- Hitler case - Carlos Pereira

Carlos Pereira is a Socialist MP. Unlike Jardim’s followers, he has no difficulty in identifying the targets of Jardim’s call to violence or in understanding his message.

Defense Lawyer - The paper had a written phase “the people ‘take care’ of them while I go on working”. This is an extract of part of a longer speech made by Jardim in an inauguration in Câmara de Lobos, before many people, during which, among other things, Jardim said “these people are back again, through the boys of the younger generation, wanting to turn back, to turn back to the era of fascism, to the time when those who produced sugar cane were exploited, were mistreated at the gates of the Hinton [factory]”. And then Jardim said: “faced with this hypocritical behavior of the opposition, where the communists are in league with the fascists and with the socialists, who accompany this attack against the people and freedom”. And it ended with that appeal to the people that they ‘take care of them’ while he went on working. The news came out following this speech, quoting the phrase, the text, and I ask: at whom was Jardim directing his speech? Can one understand, through Jardim’s words (of course he normally never names people), but with these words of his speech, who was he referring to?

Witness - Well, naturally, Dr. Jardim was referring to all those who normally disagree with his discourse, with his stances, with his options and his politics. In this particular case, following the news of the ‘Garajau’, he was directing himself specifically to those people who have lately been linked to the PND (New Democracy Party), this much seems obvious...

Lawyer - Does the accused form part of this group?

Witness -  Yes, yes.

Lawyer - Dr. Jardim often refers to fascists, and I ask, how does he habitually treat those people who form the PND and the PND itself?

Witness - He often calls them fascists, naturally. That has been habitual speech...

Lawyer - Dr. Jardim’s normal speech, when he refers to the PND is to say fascism, to link them to fascism, is that it?

 Witness - Yes, that’s the speech.

Lawyer - In inaugurations and public functions?

Witness - Yes, in inaugurations and public functions. In the last elections, we saw this publicly various times. It happened several times.

Lawyer - As a normal reader or listener, who keeps up with politics, how do you understand that phrase ‘the people ‘take care’ of them while I go on working’?

Witness - Well, once again, it’s the norm. Those of us who live in Madeira know this trait of Dr. Jardim. Dr. Alberto João Jardim creates an environment of persecution. We live in a society in which the persecutory nature of the regime is clear. And so what this means, it is that which he has been nurturing in the last years, which is the sense of persecuting those who criticize him and who, in any way, deconstruct the absurdity of his politics. There is nothing strange and nothing new in this.

Judge – Excuse me Dr., persecution in what sense? Could you be precise.

Witness - Persecution at various levels. Yes, Yes. Persecution…I can. Persecution at various levels. As you know, Your Honor, persecution is not necessarily pursuing people. There are various forms of doing it, be it in someone’s professional career, be it through family members, through the businesses someone may have, if they happen to be business people, or be it through their, well, their own…mistreating people’s honor.. Judge – But can you give a more concrete meaning to the expression ‘the people ‘take care’ of them while I go on working’?

 Witness - Yes, it means persecute them. It means persecute them, to the extent of, well, of physical aggression. That is what I understand of this phrase.

Judge – You understand that there is here an implicit…an implicit incitement to physical violence?

Witness - Yes there is, at the limit, an incitement to physical violence, without a doubt.

Judge – “Take care of them” can be a bit ambiguous, not so?

Witness - Yes, but it can also be physical violence.

Judge – It can be many things.

Witness - Or be it, the ambiguity can be many things but it can be…

Judge – It could be referring to treatment of wounds and to nursing? 

Witness - No, Dr. Alberto João Jardim was certainly not referring to nurses and the treatment of wounds. I think Your Honor understands this.

Judge – Would he necessarily be referring to beating those people who disagree with him?

Witness - At the limit, yes, I think so.  We who live in Madeira don’t have many doubts about that. It has happened, such situations have occurred, and so it doesn’t seem, well, that there is anything surprising in the expression that Jardim used. In this regime there are people who are more papist than the Pope, and Dr. Jardim is aware of that. In other words, he knows he has a core, a group, a movement of people who are disposed, if encouraged, duly encouraged, and if they feel they have impunity, and that many times happens, to carry out [his orders]. And this happens in particular circumstances. It has happened before, so it doesn’t seem very strange to me. Unfortunately, that’s the understanding of those who live in Madeira.

Lawyer – Faced with this speech and this photomontage, how does an average reader, in your case, how did you see this? Was it an upardonable offense to Dr. Jardim? Na attempt to vilify Dr. Jardim on a first page? Or did you see it in another way?

Witness – I saw it as a consequence of Dr. Jardim’s actions, in other words, that which is portrayed in a newspaper that normally, well, satirizes the life, the living experience of the Autonomous Region of Madeira. What it does is to basically translate into an image that which has been the behavior of Dr. Jardim in recent years. And Dr. Jardim’s behavior has much that the figure represents. Authoritarianism, persecution, as I said, well, the castration of the very freedom of expression, which in fact goes on in the Autonomous Region of Madeira through various means. Not necessarily in the ways witnessed in Nazism, but through means whose objective…the means are different, but the objective ends up by being the same and the results are, unfortunately, very similar.

Jardim - Hitler case witness testimonial. Luis Dantas

Jardim is appealing against the acquittal of Eduardo Welsh in the Hitler photomontage case. The image was created to denounce an extremely violent speech, made by the President, in which he stated that his opponents wanted to install a fascist regime and incited the people to violence against them. None of Jardim’s friends and collaborators were able to interpret the speech and none understood what was meant by his call to use violence. The testimonies of his friends are very revealing. Below is the transcript of the President’s Chief of Staff, Luis Dantas.

Lawyer - There's this speech: 'those people are back again through the boys of the new generation, wanting to return to the time of fascism, wanting to return to the time when those who produced sugar cane were exploited and mistreated at the gates of the Hinton factory. The opposition is hypocritical; the communists are in bed with the fascists and the socialists.' I would like to ask you, who is the opposition which is made up of communists and fascists and socialists in league with the fascists? Who is this speech referring to? 

Witness - Sorry? Sorry?

Lawyer - This speech is directed at someone, do you know the speech? Who could have made this speech? 

Witness - I don't know the speech, I know some isolated phrases of it, but the speech itself I don't know ...

Lawyer - But who made it, who is the author of this speech?

Witness - I don't know. There are so many people that...

Lawyer - You can't guess who it may be?

Witness - No, I can't guess, I don't know who it is.

Lawyer -  If I told you it was Dr. Alberto João Jardim, would you be surprised?

Witness  - I mean, I know Dr. Alberto João Jardim well, Its natural that he would have said this but I can't say ...

Lawyer -  Would you be surprised if I said this speech was Dr. Jardim's?

Witness - No

Lawyer -  No, of course not

Witness - But also… after all the long years that I'm there, I have an obligation to recognize Mr. President's style.

Lawyer - This speech is in fact Dr. Jardim's, it was made recently, on the 11th November 2008. My question is, who were the people that Dr. Alberto João Jardim was referring to in this speech? I'll put you at ease here, none of the witnesses who are friends of Dr. Jardim, not one, was able to fathom who he was talking about in these phrases.

Witness - I don't know who its aimed at.

Lawyer -  Does Dr. Jardim speak so elliptically that no one understands who he is talking about… Who he is aiming at?

Witness - Don't know, no idea.

Lawyer - Who are the fascists who are in league with the communists and the socialists who are in league with the fascists?

Witness - Its abstract, he's not saying its this one or that one. Its abstract, that's what he's saying. Now I can't say if its A or B or C.

Lawyer - Might you at least have an idea of who it might be?

Witness - No idea.

Lawyer - Look at the front page title of the Jornal "Jardim alerts to the return of fascism!".

Witness - You'll have to ask Mr. President what that means, its no me …

Lawyer - But who is it…you're listening to this, who's going to 'wear this hat'?

Witness - Those who don't abide by the rules of democracy, I think.

Lawyer - Who?

Witness - Those who don't abide by the rules of democracy, it must be aimed at those people who don't abide by the rules of democracy, nothing else.

Lawyer - But who are those people who don't abide by the rules of democracy?

Witness - I don't know.

Lawyer - According to Dr. Jardim's ideas?

Witness - I'm sorry I can't specify who they are. I don't know.

Lawyer - Does this reference to Hinton give any clues? 'The people who were mistreated at the gates of Hinton'. The new generations, the fascists of the new generations?

Witness - I don't know, I've not a clue who they are. You'll have to ask Mr. President who it is, not me .

Lawyer - He said he wasn't talking about anyone in particular.

Witness - There you go, you see.

Lawyer - But do you find it normal that such an abstract speech, that's not aimed at anybody, makes the frontage headlines "Jardim alerts to the return of fascists". Do you find it normal?

Judge - The witness has already directly answered you questions as to who this speech was aimed at. 

Lawyer -You are familiar with Dr Jardim's personality, has he ever called any rival a fascist?

Witness - Sorry? .

Lawyer - Has Dr. Jardim ever, do you recall him ever calling any opponent a fascist?

Witness - I don't know, he sometimes says that.

Lawyer - Or national-socialist?

Witness - Yes, I've heard him say, him call...

Lawyer - National fascist and national-socialist?

Witness - Not that one.

Lawyer - You don't remember?

Witness - Não.

Lawyer - During the government of Eng. Sócrates, you don't remember making some puns with the words national-socialists?

Witness - No, I don't remember, no.

Lawyer – ‘This socialism that is national-socialism’, you don't recall?

Witness - I know what it is but I don't remember Mr. President having...

Lawyer - You don't remember that?

Witness - No, no, no, no

Lawyer - And fascists, do you remember? Who were the fascists? Who were the fascists?

Witness - I don't know. Not a clue… I mean, Mr President has talked about fascism etc etc, which also exists, fascism.

Lawyer – Let’s see, can you identify anyone as being the target of this speech of the President of the Regional Government?

Witness – No, no, no, no

City Councillor Victim of GBH

Gil Canha, City Councillor for the PND, was badly beaten up last Saturday night by thugs linked to the PSD. One of the agressors is an ex-convict who accompanied the PSD youth organization in the last inauguration prior to the elections, and was identified by police for hitting Gil with a stick. Alberto João Jardim, the President of Autonomous Region of Madeira frequently incites violence against his political adversaries and has in the past known to have ordered thugs to do this type of dirty work.

Hitler court case decision

The Court of Funchal acquitted Eduardo Welsh of an accusation of defamation and abuse of press freedom, for having published a photomontage of the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Alberto João Jardim, dressed as Hitler, on the cover of the ‘Garajau’ newspaper.

The decision considered the Public Prosecutor’s accusation to be unfounded and also acquitted the accused of paying the 5.000 Euro compensation demanded by Jardim.

The judge cited jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in his extensive analysis of the constitutional right to freedom of expression when this collides with the constitutional right to good name, reputation and image.

He concluded that Jardim’s character had not been smudged by the caricature which aimed to criticize acts of ‘intolerance’, ‘incitement to violence’ and his recurrent use of ‘subliminally aggressive’ language to attack political opponents.

Jardim was condemned to pay the costs of the court fees.