Licínio Pereira da Silva

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Licínio Pereira da Silva (? - April 1, 2008) was a former Portuguese political prisoner under the regime of António de Oliveira Salazar, an era of Portuguese history known as the Estado Novo.^[1] Pereira da Silva was the last political prisoner convicted by the Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado, better known as the PIDE, the secret service force used by the Salazar regime to repress dissent during the Estado Novo.^[1]

Licínio Pereira da Silva was arrested by the PIDE and accused of supporting desertions in the Portuguese colonies in Africa.^[1] He was tried by a special court armed with security measures, which was usually reserved for prisoners who were considered to be a major threat to the Salazar regime.^[1] Pereira da Silva was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison in 1973.^[1] However, Pereira da Silva was released from prison in Peniche on April 25, 1974, following the beginning of the Carnation Revolution.^[1] He was the last political prisoner of the PIDE.^[1]

Licínio Pereira da Silva died of a nosocomial infection at the age of 63 on April 1, 2008, while hospitalized at the Hospital Garcia de Orta in Almada, Portugal.^[1] His funeral, with a cremation, was held at the Cemitério dos Olivais in Lisbon on April 4, 2008.^[1]