The news was announced by Chotzoglou’s lawyer, Kostas Papadakis, who stated that she is expected to return to her school in the coming days.

Chotzoglou, a teacher and active member of the Piraeus branch of the secondary school teachers’ union (ELME), was placed on disciplinary leave for union-related activity – the first such case in decades. The move came at the discretion of Pierrakakis, who overruled a unanimous recommendation from the official disciplinary board in order to impose the sanction.

Her supposed offence? She joined her students in protesting against the performance evaluation of a newly appointed colleague – a protest that was entirely in line with the decisions of her union. Authorities accused her of “incitement”.

This case marks the first among more than 1,500 disciplinary proceedings brought against teachers to actually result in a penalty. It is seen as a test case, potentially paving the way for further crackdowns on teachers opposing the government’s and widely criticised evaluation scheme.

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