As the Public Prosecutor opens an inquiry into last November’s police riot on the steps of parliament, union boss Paulo Rodrigues dubs it a “witch hunt” that could well lead to a “blood bath”.
The secretary general of CCP – the permanent coordinating commission of professional security forces – said: “The only criminal action here is that of the government that forces people to the limits, to act from their hearts.
“It is unthinkable that in a democratic country we should protest and find ourselves ‘rewarded’ with legal action. It seems they (the government) want, in the end – even next time round – a blood bath,” he said.
Rodrigues’ comments come less than a week after Armando Ferreira, the president of the national syndicate of police, said: “There is an imminent risk of security forces and services entering into complete disobedience” throughout the country.
The Public Prosecutor inquiry follows extraordinary scenes last November when thousands of off-duty police protesting over cuts in salaries and conditions stormed the steps of Parliament with many colleagues protecting the building letting them pass through without hindrance.
As Público points out, it is not certain at this point what kind of ‘crimes’ are being investigated, but they could well involve the behaviour of the protestors as well as those who were meant to have restrained them.
“It is a real witch-hunt,” Paulo Rodrigues told the newspaper.
SINAPOL, the syndicate of police, is now poised to post as many as 200 anti-government hoardings across towns and cities, with no-nonsense slogans like: “Patience has limits. Ours is at an end”.
“We are going to stick them in high-profile locations,” said Ferreira. “We are also thinking of putting them in newspapers”.
Meantime, the GNR, PSP, SEF (frontiers police), prison guards) and even ASAE (the health and food safety inspectors) are rapidly reaching boiling point.
“We’ve had a bellyful. We continue with our oaths to serve the country and its citizens. The government does not,” the president of the prison guards’ association César Nogueiro told Público, adding that if it means invading Parliament again, his members will not hesitate.
