Dragnet in a shopping mall
In the sequence of media reports on an alleged "arrastão" [dragnet] in the 17th of June, in a shopping mall in the outskirts of Lisbon, involving large groups of young blacks, the Comissão para a Igualdade e Contra a Discriminação Racial (CICDR) [Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination] issued a declaration were it is stated that both the direction of the shopping centre and the public security forces denied the existence of the alleged dragnet. The CICDR called the attention of the media to avoid repeating what happened in 2005, when another supposed dragnet in a beach received huge attention from the media, creating negative and unfair stereotypes and prejudices against minority groups. It was latter shown that this dragnet did not take place. Thus the CICDR ended its declaration with a call for the media's responsibility in reporting such news.
Source:
CICDR - Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination, http://www.cicdr.pt/images/com_dolce_vita.pdf, Date of access: 30.10.2011
