But the minister of Agriculture, Jaime Silva, explained the help that he pledged would not involve getting a lawyer. The Ministry would merely provide the farmer withal the official documents he needed to explain the legitimacy of what he was growing on the farm.

Slightly different from what Jaime Silva said when he visited the farm and promised legal representation to the farmer.

‘The legal aides in my office and at the Ministry of Agriculture will support him in filing a complaint,’ he said at the time.

The Law Order found the offer ‘strange.’ It stated that for a ministry to provide legal aid was ‘illegal’, ‘incomprehensible’, and it created an ‘unworkable’ legal precedent.

‘You cannot name legal representation for someone, whether you are a private company or public institution. If that happened anyone would be able to demand legal representation from a government ministry,’ said the Order.

Silva told SIC news that his words had been taken out of context, and that the opposition was trying to get mileage from side issues such as this one, instead of coming up with ideas for the management of GM crops.

Left Bloc leader says minister lied

The leader of the Left Bloc, Francisco Louçã said in an interview with SIC news that he did not back the raid to the GM farm in Silves.

But he also accused the minister of Agriculture of lying when he said that the Left Bloc was behind the events that destroyed the GM crop on the Silves farm.