Teachers notified by MP after demonstrations feel pressure

Teachers who protested in favor of the public school in January are feeling the pressure of being called as suspects by the state ministry and being heard in court this Wednesday.

Rosa Martins and Margarida Moreira are two teachers from two schools in Oeiras who were subpoenaed and were heard in Oeiras County Judicial Court this Wednesday on charges of “qualified disobedience.”

Speaking to Lusa, Rosa Martins explained that the accusation arises because “they didn’t notify the authorities in time” about the protests they were going to hold: on Friday, the teachers said they would go for a walk the following Monday, but the Law “requires notice for 24 working hours.

The case dates back to January 16, when the teachers put up a human cordon in front of the school, and then went to the city hall.

“We are accused of qualified disobedience for not notifying the parade between the school and the town hall in time, and it was PSP who suggested the route and decided to accompany us,” said Rosa Martins.

The teacher assured that there were “no traffic jams, no problems with public order” along the way.

The information is confirmed by colleague Margarida Moreira, who was also in court this Wednesday and said that the teachers made a trip without appearing: “We were going to talk, and by law this does not require permission, but notification. As we approached the city council of Oeiras, President Isaltino Morais approached us.”

In early February, several teachers involved in marches and human cordons were called to the PSP police station in Porto Salvo to testify on charges of disobedience. But four suits were taken to court and began to be heard this Wednesday.

Rosa Martins disputes the whole process, recalling that on the Friday before the outing she was in contact with the PSP commissioner: “It’s all very strange, and as a result we feel a certain pressure that this kind of initiative (demonstration) should not come back to happen,” he lamented.

Notices from the prosecutor’s office started coming home last week, and until Wednesday morning “no one knew what they were charged with,” he lamented.

“What I ask myself is that they have nowhere else to spend money from the public purse? It’s a little scary. We are good and obedient people, but we are called to court as suspects, as if we were criminals, ”he criticized, in turn, Margaret Moreira.

Union of All Educational Workers (Stop) leader André Pestana was in court this Wednesday, lamenting the case: “We conclude that this process is related to peaceful protests that have been notified to the competent authorities,” Lusa said. .

“In the current context where the right to strike is being curtailed, it seems that now they want to intimidate educators who want to demonstrate peacefully. Anyone who falls asleep in a democracy wakes up in a dictatorship,” criticized Andre Pestana.

In February, when the PSP justified the summoning of teachers to a demonstration allegedly not sanctioned by the municipality, the Chamber stated that it had been informed by the teachers.

The PSP stated that it realized on the morning of 16 January that one of the four demonstrations held had not been reported to the municipality.

The Oeiras city council said it was “duly briefed on the demonstrations by the teachers in charge, as well as the concentration in front of the town hall, where the demonstrators were even received by the mayor”.

The PSP statement explained that the teachers informed the police and the municipality of three demonstrations in different locations, but “it turned out that a fourth demonstration had taken place, which the municipality of Oeiras did not report.”