The general secretary of the Association of State Workers (ATE), Roberto Macho, was released this Wednesday night after being arrested on Tuesday and charged by the prosecutor Fernando Giunta with five acts of “hindering the circulation of public transport”, judicial sources reported.
The Justice set a bond of 50,000 pesos in the case that was initiated.
The request for review of the proceedings was dealt with by Judge Juan Manuel Pina González, who ruled that Macho leave the San Felipe penitentiary, in Mendoza, after analyzing the arguments of the parties.
On Tuesday, Macho, his partner Adriana Iranzo, and three other companions were arrested after participating in assemblies due to the rejection of the latest salary increase proposal made by the provincial government, when they were transferred to the Third Police Station in Ciudad, but only the holder of ATE was imprisoned.
“They were charged for five causes of article 194, which is the obstruction of the circulation of public transport, which are street closures”it was reported from Courts.
For their part, from various union organizations they repudiated the arrests and pointed out that it is a sample “of criminalization of social protest.”
The ATE National Board of Directors, led by the trade unionist Hugo “Cachorro” Godoy, repudiated in a statement the arrest of the unionistswho were arrested after “provincial police officers crossed the patrol cars in front of the leaders’ cars,” and expressed that the union “will not allow the workers’ struggles to be criminalized and persecuted.”
Macho and his companions were participating in assemblies on Tuesday due to the rejection of the latest salary increase proposal made by the provincial government, when they were detained by the police and transferred to the third police station in the city of Mendoza.
“The arrest of the leaders in Mendoza reveals a clear political and ideological persecution,” ATE National Deputy Secretary Rodolfo Aguiar said in a statement.
“It is a serious violation of the constitutional right to petition freely before the authorities,” Aguiar stressed and demanded his “immediate release.”
The provincial leadership of ATE has demanded “more than a month” from Mendoza Governor Rodolfo Suárez an “emergency” increase in the wages of state workers.
Meanwhile, Mario Muñoz, one of the leaders of ATE at the national level, arrived in Mendoza this Wednesday morning to lead a new protest march through the Mendoza microcenter, which added to the salary demands the request for freedom against the detained leader.
Leaders from different political spaces also joined the request for the release of the detainees.
“The criminalization of protest, in any of its formats, can be considered an option by governments,” the deputy of the Frente de Todos (FdT) and Secretary General of the Central de Trabajadores de Argentina (CTA) said via Twitter. ), Hugo Yasky.
The criminalization of protest, in any of its formats, can be considered an option by governments. I sympathize with @ate_mendozafacing the indictment and arrest of its Secretary General.
— Hugo Yasky (@HugoYasky) August 3, 2022
Anabel Fernández Sagasti, FdT senator and president of the Mendoza Justicialist Party (PJ), expressed herself in the same vein: “Criminalizing the protest and going against the fair demands of the workers is the true face of who claims to be a ‘dialoguist’ and democratic,” Fernández Sagasti tweeted along with a statement from Mendoza’s PJ.
Criminalizing the protest and going against the just demands of the workers is the true face of who claims to be a “dialoguist” and democratic. https://t.co/G0ZcXnCNyk
– Anabel Fernández Sagasti (@anabelfsagasti) August 3, 2022
“The arrests and imprisonment of union leaders executed by the Mendoza Police in the last few hours are unacceptable and violate all democratic principles,” said the Mendoza PJ.
For her part, the deputy for the Front of the Left Unity (FIT-U) Myriam Bregman considered the act “an anti-democratic madness” and called for the “immediate release” of the detainees, while her counterpart Nicolás del Caño repudiated the “action ” of Justice and the Mendoza Government for “persecuting and imprisoning” union, social and political leaders.
Under the radical government of Mendoza, ATE union leaders are being arrested for demonstrating in the street. Undemocratic madness. We demand your immediate release.
— Myriam Bregman (@myriambregman) August 3, 2022
Meanwhile, from the San Felipe prison – where he remains detained – Macho sent a video: “They have arrested me for fighting with you, for defending a cause that I carry in my heart, which is to defend the rights of all of us.”
“What we have to keep in mind is that the government of Rodolfo Suárez, by not being able to stop this great strike that is taking place and has already been going on for 53 days, what it has tried to do is the same thing that different dictatorships did: try to take prisoners to the different union and social leaders“said the union leader.
A group of provincial legislators from the Frente de Todos attended the San Felipe prison this morning to find out about the arrest of the trade unionist and denounced “disciplining” by the provincial government.
As reported, one of the detainees – released today – is a member of the Partisan Council of the Justicialist Party.
In that sense, they clarified that in addition to Macho and ATE leaders, an arrest warrant was also issued against Patricia Irrutia, who occupies the union secretary of the PJ, a situation that generated maximum concern among the legislators of that space.
“It is not only union persecution, but also political,” they reported.
The delegation of legislators who approached the prison was made up of Néstor Márquez, Cecilia Juri, Florencia Canalí, Helio Perviú, and Adriana Cano, who could not see Macho since he is housed in an isolation pavilion by Covid protocol.
“We want to express our absolute disagreement with his arrest. We believe that he has political and disciplinary characteristics on the part of the provincial government through its judicial tools. There is a selective issue regarding the application of the law,” Márquez denounced upon leaving the prison. .
