The number of police officers taking sick leave has been increasing daily since Friday, Carlos Oliveira, leader of the Police Professionals Union Association (ASPP-PSP), told Lusa.

The union leader stated that the number of police officers on leave is affecting the various services of the PSP Airport Security Division in Lisbon, including border control.

Contacted by Lusa, the national management of the PSP admitted that there are police officers on leave in that division, but assured that this is not affecting airport security or border control.

The first illnesses were reported after, on Friday, some PSP elements from the Braga command and the Lisbon airport police station attempted to hand over their service weapons.

As hierarchical superiors did not authorise the delivery of the weapons, the officers decided, as an alternative, to hand over medical leave, say the unions.

The PSP Airport Security Division is where agent Pedro Costa works, who started the police protests at the Assembly of the Republic about a month ago.

Police officers are not allowed to present self-declarations of illness required through SNS24, and illness must be certified by a doctor, a determination that arises from the professional status of the PSP, which is a special law for police officers.

In a response to Lusa, the national management of the PSP explains that police officers have five working days to justify absences from work, a period that is also applied to the presentation of proof of sick leave.

PSP and GNR elements have staged several protests to demand a supplement identical to that allocated to the Judiciary Police.

The protest began four weeks ago following the initiative of agent Pedro Costa, which later spread to the entire country.