from a Portuguese correspondent Jose Bernardino, a Portuguese student leader, was arrested by the Portuguese political police (PIDE) in may, 1962. He was twice tortured, first for 8 consecutive days and nights and then for a further period of 9 days and nights. He was finally tried in May, 1963. During the trial, in response to a signal from the judge, he was savagely beaten up by several PIDE agents armed with blackjacks and was carried unconscious from the courtroom. This incident was witnessed by a British student fer two lawyers who reported it ata press conference in London préad ded y the now Solicitor General, Ellwyn Jones, QC. The sentence in jail of four years, plus the notorious "security measures" (this allows PIDE to prolong the prison sentence by successive periods of 9 months indefinitely without a further trial), was read in his absence. The four year sentence was completed in November, 1966, and Jose Bernardino is about to begin his third period of "security measures". A new campaign for the liberation of Jose Bernardino has just begun. Lord Russell has issued a statement from which the following quotations are taken:
"Over 4 years ago I drew attention to an act of flagrant injustice in
Portugal. In the course of a ‘Humped up trial, Jose Bernardino was
brutally beaten up for opposing/tyranny of Salazar....-he has already
been in prison for 5% years and could be there indefinitely...Jose
Bernardino is a young married man. His life is being slowly destroyed
by incarceration. How much cruelty is the wotld prepared to tolerate
from this unspeakable dictatorship in Portugal?
"It is the duty of all who respect justice and human rights to
demand freedom for Jose Bernardino." Protest should be sent to the Portuguese Amabassador, 11, Belgrave Square, London S.W. 1. The Portuguese Students Committee in Great Britain, 11b, Bromley Grove, Bromley, Kent, would like to receive copies of any protests sent to the