A year after Odair died, experts say nothing has changed.

Urban studies researcher António Brito Guterres believes that, one year after the death of Odair Moniz in Cova da Moura, nothing has changed in police action in areas where the most vulnerable live and are targeted by politicians.

“We continue to have sensitive urban areas as one of the factors for [police] intervention, without really understanding what the justification is,” says the social worker, in an interview with the Lusa news agency, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the death of Odair Moniz in Cova da Moura, on October 21, 2024, shot by a police officer who begins to be tried on Wednesday.

António Brito Guterres also laments that, regarding racism, which he believes is associated with the murder of Odair Moniz, there has since been "no significant public policy movement to improve the situation."

The social activist identifies a difference resulting from Odair Moniz's murder: "It somehow increased the number of people from civil society in these territories who began to speak out and participate publicly in actions." "In the week and weeks following Odair Moniz's murder , it was perhaps the moment when I saw more people living in these territories taking a leading role in the media," he observes. But he laments that this was "immediately erased" and that the media "didn't maintain it as a regular occurrence."

For António Brito Guterres, "the people who live in these territories are not seen by public policy actors and politicians in general as actors in their own destiny and are excluded from decision-making processes regarding these territories or the issues that affect them." "While, on the one hand, this has enabled more actors to participate in their territories, it also further exposes the political forces' lack of ability to listen to these people and to allow them to participate in the decision-making process regarding these territories," he adds.

Brito Guterres asserts that this past year has also "learned a lot from the electoral shift," characterized by the rise of the far-right in the Portuguese Parliament. "The most vulnerable people at this time—whether immigrants, Black people, or those living in these vulnerable areas— are now being scapegoated to gain votes," he accuses.

António Brito Guterres believes that this situation "isn't something confined solely to the far right and the right. We've also seen the left use these people as a kind of target." "Right now, and unlike other periods in our democracy, violating the most vulnerable wins votes," he emphasizes.

The researcher also denounces the attempt to blame the poorest people for the poverty of others. "We know that in Portugal this is a lie," he says, adding: "The money given to the richest people, in terms of tax exemptions, for example, is what has actually taken away wealth that should be distributed to everyone, not the poorest people," he adds.

Social activist José Baessa de Pina also followed the events after the death of Odair Moniz and, a year later, believes that the State continues to ignore the outskirts of the city, representing itself only through police presence.

Sinho, as he is known, is a Portuguese man of African descent who knows the outskirts well, being the creator of the Noz Stória initiative (our history, in Creole), which offers guided tours of emblematic spaces of the presence of the African community in Greater Lisbon.

For the vice-president of the Knights of Saint Blaise Association, located in Casal da Boba, Amadora, very little has changed since the death of Cape Verdean citizen Odair Moniz. "From the testimonies I've heard here in communities on the outskirts of Lisbon, especially, police violence is still rampant. During interventions in the communities, there continues to be physical and verbal abuse , and I don't think anything has changed," he says in an interview with Lusa news agency. He believes several factors contribute to this state of affairs.

"We're 50 years after the 25th of April, and public policies haven't kept pace with these communities in several areas. If we take a closer look, the institution that has had the most impact on these communities is the police force," he notes.

He continues: "Instead of the state channeling other government departments — education, health, housing—in all these areas, there has been a lack of state involvement in these communities, and I don't see any public policies being created to support these communities." For Sinho, this lack of state involvement "leaves the working class at the mercy of exploitation, violence, and various factors" that are present in everyday life.

When asked about potential changes following the death of Odair Moniz and the wave of violence that followed, he recalls "initial meetings with associations, which led nowhere." "The communities and social movements that have been working in the communities for decades, who are called upon, who are honored, but are not valued for their work, were not consulted ," he laments. He concludes: "Until the state reaches out to these associations and movements and listens to the community, I don't believe anything good will come of it."

In this regard, he notes that communities and peripheral neighborhoods are not on today's political agenda, nor do current candidates for political office have programs for these communities. "I don't feel like they're concerned about the situations happening in these communities," he says.

Sinho advocates for laws that effectively combat racism, which is a crime in Portugal, and the creation of "effective public policies." "We had a decade dedicated to people of African descent, but nothing was said. United Nations organizations come here, analyze the situation, and report it, but we don't see it actually happening because we, too, are not in a position to make decisions, because everything is decided by those with privilege," he says.

Geographer Jorge Malheiros shares the same opinion and believes that the police continue to fail to reach out to residents of vulnerable neighborhoods and that the housing market is creating segregated areas, where public spaces await improvement.

In an interview with Lusa news agency, the human mobility specialist says that the way police interventions are conducted and police strategies have changed "very little" in the last year, despite the debate that followed the death of this citizen in Cova da Moura.

Jorge Malheiros recalls that, at the time of this "terrible incident," there was talk of "the need for a component in police action that included, and restored, the logic of community policing, so-called proximity policing, which had been lost." "The principle was discussed, and its advantages were recognized, but I believe that, with a few exceptions, once again the leap that the event should have justified was not taken," he stated.

He warns, however, that the police should not be demonized. "Sometimes, some political actors, especially on the left, demonize the police. This demonization of the police is a mistake because what should be criticized are the actions, not the structure itself," he says.

By devaluing the role of the police, there is a risk of alienating the most interesting candidates for police positions, and of those who perform them becoming confined to "those who appropriate a kind of protective discourse of the police, particularly the far right."

"This allows the police to be hijacked by the far right, devaluing the values ​​that would make the police and their actions something that is close to the citizens, that protects the citizens, that dialogues with the citizens, that defends the most vulnerable groups, the most fragile, children, etc.," he adds.

Another aspect that Jorge Malheiros believes has changed very little is the way the housing market works, which "continues to create very different spaces and lead to the creation of potentially more segregated areas, where the disadvantaged population is concentrated."

Housing prices in some areas, "particularly within the city of Lisbon, but also sometimes in the outskirts, prevent a group of people from accessing these spaces and leads them to concentrate in more peripheral areas, creating a more unfair, more unequal city, from a residential perspective," he says.

In addition to the marginalization of some population groups, there is an absence of the State in these areas, which does not guarantee "the quality of public space," whether in terms of cleanliness or the establishment of points between these areas and others in the city.

Jorge Malheiros recalls that, a year ago, after the death of Odair Moniz and the riots that followed, public authorities recognized the need for some intervention in these spaces, as integral parts of the city.

"From both the perspective of intangible actions (such as police training, community policing, etc.) and physical actions (renovating spaces, improving circulation, increasing public space, and increasing connections between spaces and their surroundings), several positive measures were mentioned that could contribute to a more just city, greater spatial justice, and greater socio-spatial justice, particularly in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area." He laments: "Effective progress has been limited, and it seems to me that some of what was proposed ended up not being implemented."

Just as he did a year ago, Jorge Malheiros argues that, "beyond the specific issue of how police intervention is conducted and police strategies, which need to change, and have changed very little," it is necessary to change "the way we intervene in the housing market, in order to promote a city where people mix more."

"That hasn't changed anything; on the contrary, I think the way the housing market works continues to create very different spaces and lead to the creation of potentially more segregated areas, where the disadvantaged population is concentrated, as well as interventions in public space, conservation of public space, improvement of the quality of this public space, creation of public space where it doesn't exist, for example, in some more degraded areas, such as Cova da Moura."

An association leader also told Lusa that residents of the Zambujal neighborhood, Amadora, where Odair Moniz lived, are increasingly being cornered by the police, with tension rising since the murder.

Edgar Cabral, leader of the Zambujal neighborhood residents' association, told Lusa that little has changed in the neighborhood since Odair's death, but police presence has increased. "As a community, we've always been a peaceful community; we've always been on good terms with one another, just as we have been this year, despite the pain and sorrow we feel," he said.

The changes are felt in the police presence in the neighborhood: "What we've noticed now is that the atmosphere is much more tense when the police enter the neighborhood." "The community has been pushed against the wall, treated in a not very good way," he continued.

According to Edgar Cabral, "the police arrive, put people against a wall, and there's a sense of anger toward the police, something we didn't see before." "Before, they just did their job, searching and monitoring the Zambujal neighborhood, but now we're constantly seeing heavy police intervention," he added.

After Odair's murder, he continued, the police have been constantly searching the neighborhood. "No one has been arrested. I think they're waiting for someone to start a fight there so they have a motive," he said.

Regarding the start of the trial of the police officer accused of killing Odair Moniz on Wednesday, Edgar Cabral said the community is hopeful it will bring some peace. "We hope that now, with the trial, people will get some rest. We've all been under a lot of pressure since the event until now." He added: "We, who live in social housing, always have hope and faith. Will this be the time when things will be righted, that justice will be served?"

"It won't bring our friend back, but there's a hope we've been searching for for many years , and with the way things are going, I think this is the one we'll get and that it will be an episode that won't happen again," he concluded.

Odair Moniz, a 43-year-old Cape Verdean resident of the Zambujal neighborhood, died in Cova da Moura on October 21, 2024, after being shot twice by a PSP officer accused of murder. His trial is scheduled to begin on Wednesday at the Sintra court.