“INTERNATIONAL PETITION of solidarity with RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA and VIDOJEVIE MONCILA, Serbian police officers that have been victims of violent trade union repression by the Serbian Government”.

To:  The Serbian Government

To: The Serbian Government
(Em português no fim do texto em inglês)

INTERNATIONAL PETITION of solidarity with RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA and VIDOJEVIE MONCILA, Serbian police officers that have been victims of violent trade union repression by the Serbian Government.

All European police officers and most of the world’s democrat citizens hereby express, through this means, their most heartfelt and scandalised revulsion at the violent repression against the trade union to which leaders of the Serbian Police Independent Trade union (IPTU) have been subjected.
We stress once again that the preventive enforcement, dismissals, transfer of services or work stations or any other persecutory forms of trade union leadership are actions inherent to totalitarian and not democratic states.
The persecution of trade unions in the Serbian Police does in no way favour the image of a country like Serbia that wants to enter this area of Justice Safety and Freedom, considered the European Union, where actions such as those described are expressly forbidden.
We urge the Serbian government and the Serbian police hierarchy to go back on their senseless, old-fashioned persecutory attitudes as quickly as possible so that it is still possible to do so with an inkling of dignity.

Chronology of the facts that stain Serbia’s image:
24th of July 2007 – Due to lack of dialogue concerning labour and social issues with the Serbian Ministry of internal Affairs, the IPTU organized and started a strike on the 24th of July 2007.
The strike was legal based on article 135 of the Police law, in the Constitution and the Labour Law of the Republic of Serbia.
27th of July 2007 – Three days after the police strike began, the Serbian Government published a Decree-law forbidding Policemen Strike, which blatantly contradicted the Constitution and the general laws of the country mentioned above.
28th of July – With the clear aggravation of persecutory intention against the police trade union movement, to be applied the day after publication, that is, on the 28th of July 2007, as from 00H00 (at a week-end!.
The IPTU decreed the end of the strike at 12 o’clock on the 28th, in order to protect its members.
31st of July 2007 – Those responsible from the IPTU, RASEVIC ZORAN and VIDOJEVIE MONCILO, were transferred from their work stations and placed in inferior positions with a consequent reduction of about 30% to their monthly salaries. Which means a double penalty in the income of these Serbian colleagues because the loss of their monthly salary (as a result of the change of position) has still to account for the increased expenses arising from the geographical change they were compelled to make, which has made their respective family situations dramatically poorer.

The recourse made by the IPTU to the Government Claims Committee was rejected by it, which blatantly contradicted Article 188 of the Labour Law of the Republic of Serbia that clearly defines that those responsible for trade unions cannot have their positions changed or be lowered.
20th of October 2007 – The Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs filed disciplinary action against those responsible from the IPTU, RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA e VIDOJEVIE MONCILA, with the objective of expelling them from the Police Force. They are accused of extreme disobedience and criminal acts based on Article 135 of the Penal Law of the Republic of Serbia.
6th of November 2007 – The meeting of the Disciplinary Committee that was to take place the following December was forwarded to the 6th of November.

The Legal Defence of the Serbian colleagues is seriously compromised
The Serbian attorneys are unanimous: the new anti-strike decree-law in the police force is clearly against the Serbian Law and Constitution, as are the disciplinary processes filed against the three trade union leaders.
But, the legal recourse methods available to the defence cannot suspend the sanctions to which these policemen were submitted.
And, as unfortunately is the case in these situations, the Serbian administrative and judicial courts take years to reach decisions.
With the further aggravation that they cannot benefit from the protection of the Serbian Constitutional Court as the latter cannot meet due to lack of nomination by its members (Article 125 of the Serbian Constitution).
And without being able to exhaust internal recourse methods, they are therefore unable to benefit from the protection of the European Court of Human Rights.
This petition is the embodiment of a strong current of European solidarity with these victims of arbitrariness of an administration that seems to be unaware of the most elementary rules of democracy and a rule-of-law state. Which is, to say the least, intolerable in a state that shortly wants to enter the European Union.
The sponsors and signatories to this petition shall only rest when RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA and VIDOJEVIE MONCILA recover their positions and their salaries and persecution of trade unions ceases in Serbia.
The ASFIC/PJ appeals to all national and European entities, trade unions, professionals, politicians and others, especially those from the area of Justice and Safety, to demonstrate their profound disagreement to the Serbian Government for the arbitrariness that it is committing against its citizens-police officers.
RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA and VIDOJEVIE MONCILA are being punished for merely exercising their most elementary rights to citizenship, namely, to fight with all the legitimate means for the dignification of living and working conditions of Serbian policemen.
RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA and VIDOJEVIE MONCILA cannot be treated like criminals.
It’s the Serbian State that deserves to be strongly condemned by the international community, especially European entities that supervise the process of adhesion of new states to the European Union, which they cannot agree to the summarized old-fashioned practices that clearly violate the European Social Charter and Human Rights.
Please SIGN the petition if you are in agreement with this chain of solidarity, using the link below. Please forward this petition by e-mail to your friends and associates, so that they too may support this just cause.

To: Governo Sérvio

PETIÇÃO INTERNACIONAL em solidariedade com RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA e VIDOJEVIE MONCILA, polícias sérvios vítimas de violenta repressão sindical por parte do governo sérvio.

Todos os polícias europeus e na generalidade todos os cidadãos democratas do mundo vêm manifestar, por este meio, o mais vivo e escandalizado repúdio pela violenta repressão sindical a que têm sido sujeitos os membros dirigentes do Sindicato Independente da Polícia Sérvia (IPTU).
A coacção, as demissões, as transferências de serviços ou de locais de trabalhos ou quaisquer outras formas persecutórias de dirigentes sindicais são acções próprias de estados totalitários e não de estados de direito democrático.
A perseguição sindical na Polícia Sérvia não favorece, em nada, a imagem de um país, como a Sérvia, que pretende entrar para este espaço de Justiça, Segurança e Liberdade, que é a União Europeia, onde acções como as descritas são liminarmente proibidas.
Exortamos o governo sérvio e a hierarquia policial sérvia a recuarem nas suas insensatas e retrógradas atitudes persecutórias, o mais rapidamente possível, para que ainda seja possível fazê-lo com alguma dignidade.

Cronologia dos factos que mancham a imagem da Sérvia:
24 de Julho 2007 - Por falta de diálogo sobre questões laborais e sociais com o Ministro dos Assuntos Interiores da Sérvia, o IPTU organizou e iniciou uma greve em 24 de Julho 2007.
A greve era legal com base no Artigo 135 da lei da Polícia, na Constituição e na Lei do Trabalho da República Sérvia.
27 de Julho de 2007 - Três dias depois do início da greve da polícia, o Governo Sérvio publicou um Decreto-lei a interditar o Direito de Grnação mais veemente da comunidade internacional, em especial das entidades europeias que supervisionam o processo de adesão de novos estados à União Europeia, que não podem condescender com as práticas retrógradas sumariamente descritas que violam claramente a Carta Social Europeia e os Direitos do Homem.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The “INTERNATIONAL PETITION of solidarity with RASEVIC ZORANA, ILIC ZORANA and VIDOJEVIE MONCILA, Serbian police officers that have been victims of violent trade union repression by the Serbian Government”. Petition to The Serbian Government was created by Members of the CESP and written by Mário Coimbra (jmario.coimbra@gmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.