Police have identified the farmers involved in blocking the road in Beja

At least 22 farmers who participated in blocking a road near the border of Vila Verde de Ficalho, municipality of Serpa (Beja), in early February have been identified by police authorities, a spokesman for the protesters said on Tuesday.

Speaking to Lusa, António João Veríssimo from the Baixo Alentejo Farmers’ Civil Movement said that notifications from the GNR and PSP, in person and by registered mail, began to arrive just over a week ago.

“These are files taken from tractors that participated in the protest on the national road connecting Vila Verde de Ficalho with Rosal de la Frontera. [Espanha] and notified the owners to submit statements,” he said.

António João Veríssimo said he knows that so far “22 farmers have been notified” and finds it strange why they were notified when “there will be about 300 cars there” at the protest.

Farmer Luis Pola, one of those notified, told Lusa that he had received a letter from the GNR addressed to his agricultural company, as the owner of the tractor, asking the person in charge to report to the Serpa station.

At the PNP post, Luis Pola said that the military showed him a photograph that showed his tractor and the tractors of other people on the road, and he limited himself to confirming that the car belonged to him and that he himself was the driver.

“I took responsibility for what I did and did not make any further statements,” the farmer stressed, stressing that the PPR informed him that he had been charged and issued an identity card and residence permit.

In a statement to Lusa, António João Veríssimo of the Baixo Alentejo Civic Farmers’ Movement expressed regret that some protesters had been identified, stressing that authorities must take into account the reasons for the protests.

“We tried through diplomatic channels, and all possibilities were exhausted, the associations turned their backs on us, the Ministry of Agriculture did not listen to us and everyone said that it was impossible to pay the missing aid,” he emphasized.

Considering that guardianship should be in place of the notified farmers because they “failed to fulfill their obligation,” António João Veríssimo insisted that “it is necessary to understand the reason for this action and the despair in which the farmers find themselves.”

During the protests, he stressed, “there was no damage to property or disturbances, a security cordon was left in place, ambulances and elderly people passed by, and everyone witnessed the diplomacy that existed between the protesters and the People’s Republic of Poland.”

“And now we are being notified as if we were bandits,” added a farmer from Baixo Alentejo.

Between the early morning of February 1 and the evening of the next day, a group of farmers from several municipalities in the Beja district cut the national road 260 in the Vila Verde de Ficalho area, close to the border with Spain.

These sector protests have taken place across the country against cuts to community aid announced by the government and to demand the right to adequate food, fair conditions and recognition of these activities.