06.13.16
Gemini version available ♊︎Spontaneous Protest at EPO Today as Battistelli Still Acts Defiantly, Three Days of ‘Trial’ Starting Tomorrow
Evidence of room booking (room 131, as expected)
Summary: Battistelli continues to demonstrate that his war on truth-telling not only persists but is intensifying, culminating in the third ‘trial’ tomorrow (after Battistelli failed to get his way in the first two)
THIS morning we published three articles about the latest attack from EPO management against the boards (of appeal) [1, 2, 3]. It is expected that the public will soon be able to see that all the defamation comes from Battistelli, not from the accused judge.
It’s no longer just about a judge. Battistelli’s attack on staff long ago proceeded to staff representatives or anyone who dares say the truth about Battistelli and his goons. For quite a few days now we have expected to hear the decision on the cases of two staff representatives from Munich (we wrote about this last week) and it turned out as we expected. Battistelli is once again spitting at the face of the delegates with their demands of justice or at least perception of justice while making things even worse by attacking staff representatives at The Hague, not just in Munuch. There is a protest going on right now. To quote a quickly-put-together two-page leaflet:
BREAKING NEWS
The requests for review of Ion and Malika have been REJECTED:
the disciplinary measures are maintained in FULL !
We invite all staff to join us in a spontaneous
PROTEST
TODAY (Monday) 13h in the Kurt-Haertel-Passage
a RESOLUTION will be proposed
(see reverse)
Staff of the EPO, gathered IN PROTEST against the decision of Mr Battistelli to maintain the disciplinary sanctions against Ion Brumme and Malika Weaver,
Noting that:
The disciplinary sanctions against Ion and Malika are widely perceived as unfair,
Following a request for review, Mr Battistelli decided to maintain these sanctions in full,
Further noting that:
The new regulations proposed in CA/53/16 do not in any way enhance confidence in future disciplinary proceedings and sanctions, quite on the contrary,
The amended “Standards of Conduct” and the new investigation guidelines proposed in CA/52/16 increase the discretionary power of the President and grant additional competences to the Investigative Unit thereby “legitimising” further interferences with the fundamental rights of staff,
The new regulations proposed in CA/15/16 give the President full discretionary power to define the cover and reimbursement conditions of the EPO’s obligatory health cost insurance,
The regulations proposed in CA/29/16 give the President undue discretionary power over the post-employment conditions of staff at the EPO,
The reform of the Boards of Appeal proposed in CA/aa/16 does not take into account the comments from the Council of from DG3,
The administration has not approached SUEPO for further discussions about a Memorandum of Understanding,
Urge the Administrative Council as supervisory organ of the EPOrg,
to stop the repeated, egregious abuses of power by Mr Battistelli, and
to reinstall Ion Brumme and Malika Weaver in full, pending an independent investigation into the disciplinary and other sanctions imposed by Mr Battistelli on Ion Brumme and Malika Weaver, and on other staff representatives.
Munich, 13.06.2016
Unless Battistelli managed to 'buy' votes, there is no way he can convince the Council later this month that he has done something to appease anyone.
Another message, heralding the above development, stated (similarly to the above):
It is with deep regrets that I have to announce the sad news today:
The requests for review of Ion and Malika have been REJECTED:
the disciplinary measures are maintained in FULL !
Ion remains OUT of the EPO and Malika DOWNGRADED
A spontaneous DEMO will be taking place today in Munich
The call from the Council to appease the conflict in the Office has not been heard:
what initially seemed like a change of course may only have been a short break and the present administration maintains its policy without restraint and at all cost, including human cost.
My thoughts go to Ion and Malika, who after Els, Aurélien, Michael are bearing the personal consequences of the present „InHuman Resource“ policy driven by the EPO President during his term of office. Last but not least my thoughts go to our colleague from DG3, is still awaiting his final judgment (presumably in the coming days-see below) some one-and-half year later after his initial suspension from Office.
The protest is already underway. What EPO workers can do is attend the meeting tomorrow and encourage journalists in Germany (e.g. Süddeutsche Zeitung and the Bayerischer Rundfunk) to do so as well, in spite of the relatively small size of the room. We encourage people to bring small recording devices and leak the recordings to us for publication and overdue scrutiny. █