Prosecutor requests removal of Unesp rector – 09/20/2023 – Education

The Public Ministry of São Paulo filed a lawsuit asking for the removal of the rector of Unesp, Pasqual Barreti, due to administrative improbity and nepotism in hiring made by the university.

In a statement, the Unesp rectory denied irregularities.

In 2021, the Public Patrimony Prosecutor’s Office began a process to investigate the hiring of ten attorneys without competition to work at the university. The following year, while the action was being processed, the dean directly hired two more attorneys, one of whom was the daughter of his main advisor.

Lawyer Cristiane Gomes Carrijo Andrade, daughter of special advisor José Afonso Carrijo Andrade, assigned to the rectory’s office, was appointed legal attorney in March 2022.

According to prosecutor Silvio Marques, the rector promoted “absolute instrumentalization” of the legal prosecutor’s office to “serve personal interests”.

“The legal office of Unesp, one of the largest and most renowned public universities in the country, was transformed by the defendants into a ‘job hanger’ structure, with high salaries, personal benefits and even nepotism”, states the Public Ministry.

In addition to Barretti, the prosecutor asks that the special advisor, his daughter and a chief prosecutor also be removed.

In June 2021, the Public Ministry asked for the dismissal of the prosecutors hired without a competition, but Unesp did not make the dismissals and kept them in their positions, with a salary of R$30,000 per month.

The Unesp rectory states that it has not yet been officially notified of the request for removal, but says that there is no “immorality” in the hiring or maintenance of attorneys.

“Nor in the payment of salaries to which they are entitled for the exercise of their duties, all of which are subject to the application of the constitutional ceiling, contrary to what the Prosecutor’s Office suggests in the action”, says the note.

“The constitutionality of the structure of Unesp’s legal advice, prior to the current Federal Constitution, is already addressed in another legal action, which must be respected, and is sub judice, awaiting a definitive pronouncement from the Judiciary”, the note continues.

The rectory also denies that nepotism occurred. “The university defends the integrity of everyone and the fairness of the administrative procedures now questioned.”