Reencaminho a mensagem que enviei ao Board of Trustees da Wikimedia
Foundation na passada quinta-feira.
Gonçalo Themudo
*Presidente*
*Wikimedia Portugal*
*Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
*Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
*Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: GoEthe.wiki <goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com>
Date: quinta, 25/10/2018 à(s) 12:20
Subject: Lifting the suspension of Wikimedia Portugal
To: <board-l(a)wikimedia.org>
Cc: <maria(a)wikimedia.org>rg>, <wikimediapt(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Dear members of the Board of Trustees,
We are writing to you in regards to the lifting of the suspension of
Wikimedia Portugal (WMPT) as a Wikimedia Affiliate.
As you may know, WMPT received a suspension notice in July from AffCom, and
was given a roadmap to follow that would lead to our de-suspension. During
the past months, we have followed the roadmap carefully and diligently.
Despite that, AffCom has now raised the possibility of de-recognition, for
unclear reasons, while acknowledging that the roadmap was fulfilled ahead
of the deadline.
From the start, AffCom seemed to us to have served as
an echo chamber for
the unsubstantiated claims of our former president, João
Vasconcelos, and
has made decisions that seem to be based on a superficial reading of the
Portuguese Civil Code. We are certain that if AffCom had NOT intervened,
the situation in Wikimedia Portugal would be much more stable by this time
and the conflict with João Vasconcelos would probably have long been
resolved. From the very beginning we have been in close contact not only
with AffCom, but also to Wikimedia Legal and Trust and Safety departments,
which have helped us deal with some of João Vasconcelos’ attitudes, and
protect the Wikimedia movement.
João Vasconcelos resigned as President of WMPT in March of this year, and
in May said he wished to leave the association. We did not prevent him from
doing either, and it is unclear why he tried to derail our General Assembly
of September 1st, and keeps making threats, legal and otherwise, to members
of WMPT. Our consciences are clear, and AffCom is witness that we tried to
resolve the situation with João amicably from the start, but his actions
are unfortunately no longer compatible with membership in our association,
so we intend to take disciplinary action against him as soon as possible.
It is even more unclear to us why AffCom continues to make decisions
without listening to all parties, and to make rulings without obtaining and
reviewing proper legal advice. We are happy that finally, after we wrote a
public appeal to AffCom, they are consulting with a legal expert (even
though we have not been asked to provide any clarification to this expert
nor participate in the process). But we worry that if there is an intention
to de-recognize, other reasons could be raised to back such intentions,
without us having a possibility to counter-argue. We would like your
assurance that no de-recognition would happen without us being given a
chance to hear and respond to any concerns.
Despite all this, Wikimedia Portugal is today on a sustainable path. We
have been working with WMF departments in order to develop and improve our
capacities, we had months full of activities, many more to come. But
planing all this, along with João Vasconcelos’ menacing on top of AffCom’s
inability to deal with our situation, left us reaching our physical,
psychological, and motivational limit. A number of us have started to
question whether continuing to contribute to this movement under these
conditions is worthwhile.
We are at the mercy of AffCom and the Board of Trustees to remain an
Wikimedia Affiliate. We are tired and broken from the lack of support of
AffCom, and we feel that we have not been heard properly throughout the
last six months. It is no longer sustainable to continue to have this
shadow above us. We would like to ask the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
Trustees to allow us to prove, to you, to AffCom and to the Wikimedia
Movement, that Portugal can have a vibrant Chapter that you can be proud
of. Please help us by lifting this suspension.
Thank you for your attention!
Gonçalo Themudo
*Presidente*
*Wikimedia Portugal*
*Email: *goethe.wiki(a)gmail.com
*Website: *http://pt.wikimedia.org <https://sites.google.com/view/themudo>
*Imagine um mundo onde cada ser humano pode partilhar livremente a soma de
todo o conhecimento, na sua própria língua.*