Word: galv
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...stunt was planned and plotted by Portugal's Henrique Galvão, 65, soldier, playwright, pamphleteer. His object was to dramatize the wrongs wrought by Premier António Salazar, who is unquestionably a dictator, but a man so seemingly mild that even the most fervent libertarians have trouble working up any great indignation against his regime...
...with all the politeness in the world the learned Portuguese judges could not disregard a bulky file, uncovered in Galvão's apartment, which contained a detailed blueprint for the overthrow of the government. In his own defense, Galvão pleaded that the carefully constructed plot was merely an outline for a play he had in mind...
...said, "that I myself and thousands of other Portuguese patriots are dissatisfied with the present regime and eager for political freedom, but dreaming is one thing and action is another." The critical opinion of the judges was definitely unfavorable: three years in prison. Before the verdict was even announced, Galvão got busy sawing away the iron bars of his detention cell. Caught in the act and led off to another cell, he shouted defiantly: "The last act of this drama has not yet been written...
...Endless Entr'acte. Soon afterward, political pamphlets attacking the Salazar government began filtering through the land. Connoisseurs easily recognized in them the stylistic mark of Galvão. As a result of the investigation that followed shortly, the director of Galvão's prison was dismissed and his assistant committed suicide. Due out of prison in October 1954, Galvão was arraigned again on charges of "abuse of the press and insults," and held without bail. Portugal waited breathlessly for the third act of the drama to begin, but somehow the curtain never went...
Pleading ill-health as an excuse, Playwright Galvão himself refused to come out of jail to face trial on the new charges, and the polite dictatorship of Antonio Salazar seemed more than willing to gratify his whims. Last week, apparently preferring martyrdom to a third act which might not turn out the way he wanted, Scripter Galvão dismissed his defense counsel on the grounds that it was impossible to get a fair trial and so he needed no lawyers: he would stay where...