'Judges for Democracy': Richa's actions were identical to those of the dictatorship.

Paraná 247 – The Judges for Democracy Association released a statement in support of the teachers who were targeted by military police during a protest on Wednesday the 29th in Curitiba. The organization described the action, led by Governor Beto Richa (PSDB), as "cowardly," "truculent," "illegal," and "violent."

The action that prevented public servants from demonstrating, as provided for in the Constitution, is "regrettably identical to what occurred under the aegis of the civil-military dictatorship that prevailed after the 1964 coup," says the text from the Association. Read below the full text of the statement, released on Viomundo:

Public statement from the Judges for Democracy Association condemning the repression of teachers in Paraná.

The Judges for Democracy Association, a non-governmental and non-profit organization whose purposes include absolute and unconditional respect for the legal values ​​inherent in the Democratic Rule of Law, publicly expresses its support for the teachers of Paraná regarding the regrettable events that occurred in the city of Curitiba on April 29, 2015, in the following terms:

1. On that date, Brazilians watched in horror as yet another cowardly and brutal attack by the State on popular dissatisfaction expressed in a republican and democratic manner, as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution. This was an illegal and violent reaction, this time inexplicably directed against members of a class that should deserve the highest degree of deference and respect: teachers.

2. Certainly, the physical injuries – which were not few – inflicted on the teachers, who dared, in continuation of their courageous daily work in classrooms to educate citizens, to also fight in the streets for rights that should be guaranteed to them by the State, were not the most harmful aspect of the events.

3. Certainly, what resonated most deeply in the minds of each of the protesters was the symbolism of the State's response to the teachers' demands: the obscurantism, brought to the surface by the use of weapons, prevailing, by force, over the light, represented by the teachers and their convictions; the repression, represented by intolerance towards debate, demonstrations, and the people in the streets, prevailing, with sledgehammers, over freedom.

4. It is important to remember that individual or collective demonstrations in public spaces against government measures or projects, as well as the right to strike, are rights enshrined in articles 5, sections IV and XVI, and 9 of the Federal Constitution.

5. Therefore, it is the duty of the police forces, by constitutional obligation, to ensure the holding of public demonstrations, and of the government to engage in dialogue with civil society; rubber bullets or tear gas are not legitimate responses to popular dissent.

6. The violent action of the Paraná state government against teachers represents yet another chapter in the intensification of official repression under a Federal Constitution that enshrines political pluralism as a fundamental principle of the Brazilian State (Article 1, V). The logic of managerial efficiency in the supposed tackling of fiscal issues has prevailed over the right of the population to express their disagreements in the public sphere, in a regrettably identical manner to what occurred under the civil-military dictatorship that prevailed after the 1964 coup.

7. The construction of a democratic rule of law, as envisioned by the 1988 Federal Constitution, requires the definitive abandonment of police practices for addressing social issues. Dialogue aimed at the realization of rights is the legitimate response expected from all governments under a democratic aegis.

São Paulo, April 30, 2015.

André Augusto Salvador Bezerra

President of the Executive Council of the Judges for Democracy Association (AJD)