MBL activist is beaten inside the university and has goods stolen

Four members of the Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL) were attacked this Thursday afternoon (13) at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), in Florianópolis. One of them, João Bettega, was beaten simultaneously by four attackers, became unconscious and had to be taken to the hospital. The others suffered minor injuries and after the act filed a police report.

In all, there were eight attackers, some of them wearing protective masks. According to the press office of the MBL informed the People’s Gazette, at least one of the criminals carried a knife, and others were in possession of pieces of wood. Two cell phones, a microphone and a pair of glasses were stolen by the vandals.

This Wednesday, members of the movement had gone to UFSC to paint a part of the university’s Living Center, which was taken over by graffiti with leftist political themes. After leaving, the place was graffitied again, this time with phrases against the MBL, including linking the movement to Nazism.

“When they got there to redo the painting, there was an ambush. It was a very ugly aggression, a political aggression within the university. In Bettega’s case, it was an attempted murder. We have already identified five of them, which will face the consequences. They won’t go unpunished”, says Israel Russo, the group’s press officer.

The action of MBL members is part of a project to denounce vandalism of public property by left-wing activists in public universities. Last week, the project began with the repainting of the Department of Philosophy at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), taken over by political graffiti. There was no record of assaults there. “We recently started in Rio Grande do Sul and the idea is to travel from the South to the North, visiting several federal universities. The project will continue. We even intend to return to UFSC”, says Russo.

The report contacted UFSC, which so far has not taken a position on the case.