Portugal must 'pay costs' of slavery and colonial crimes, President Sousa says

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Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. PHOTO | REUTERS

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said late on Tuesday that Portugal was responsible for crimes committed during Trans-Atlantic slavery and the colonial era, and suggested there was a need for reparations.

For over four centuries, at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported long distances by mainly European ships and merchants and sold into slavery.