A Serbian teacher spent a day-and-a-half in prison after Government issued an unlawful deportation order that was quashed by a judge yesterday.

Dragana Damljanovic is embroiled in a long-running dispute with the Ministry of Education, and has not worked since last year.

However, the deportation order stated she has been convicted of a criminal offence when she has not.

Speaking after the Chief Justice lifted the order, Ms Damljanovic explained she was arrested and handcuffed when she visited the Supreme Court Registry last Thursday to deal with another matter. She ended up at the Co-Ed facility in St. George's until Friday evening.

"They put me in jail. I was terrified I really suffered from shock. They put me in jail and made me wash floors. They put me in a locked cell and there were fleas there," she alleged.

Government lawyer Martin Johnson conceded at Supreme Court yesterday that the wording of the order was incorrect. He acknowledged that Ms Damljanovic has merely been charged with breaching the Immigration and Protection Act, and not convicted of any crime.

Her lawyer, Taaj Jamal, said she had never been served with the order which was signed by the Deputy Governor and only learned of it when she was arrested. She was released from custody on bail after challenging the legality of the deportation.

Quashing the order, Chief Justice Richard Ground said yesterday: "The central point is that this deportation order was made on the basis that she's a convicted person, and she is not."

He awarded Ms Damljanovic the costs of her case, and ordered that her travel documents should be returned to her.

The deportation order is the latest twist in a long-running dispute between the teacher and the Government. She claims she's suffered discrimination, and has been wrongly accused of racism.

Ms Damljanovic, a social studies teacher, moved to Bermuda in 2008, having previously lived in other countries including the US. She initially took up a position at Sandys Secondary School, but filed an official grievance with Education Commissioner Wendy McDonell in April 2009, claiming she was mistreated there.

"I was harassed by a few staff members and discriminated [against] by the principal," claimed Ms Damljanovic, who also cited an incident where a parent allegedly threatened her.

And she alleged: "Ms McDonell accused me of racism. They said I was too harsh to kids, that I would not let them go to the bathroom. I said they are abusing the right to go to the bathroom. It's manipulation."

Ms Damljanovic was suspended, then terminated from her job at the school a month after filing the grievance. She sued the Ministry of Education over that decision, and in June 2009 won an order that she should be reinstated and her salary should continue to be paid.

She was reassigned to TN Tatem Middle School in Warwick in November 2009, but declined to take up the position. According to Government, that means she effectively resigned from her job with the Ministry of Education.

Ms Damljanovic believes that is wrong.

"They stated that they wanted to transfer me to Tatem as a substitute teacher, not full-time. I considered that to be demotion. I refused it. Based on that, they claimed I resigned my position. I never resigned," she said yesterday.

She also claims she tried to set out her position to the Department of Immigration, but they "ignored" her letters.

Explaining why she decided to stay in Bermuda and fight the Government rather than leave the Island and find a job elsewhere, she said: "I'm entitled to my salary. If they don't want me here they have to pay off my contract which expires in 2012. I'm not going to leave just with nothing. I wasted my time here, everything was a waste, and now I've ended up in jail."

In the meantime, she said she has not been paid since a "pay-off cheque" in July. "Right now I have no idea what I am going to do because I'm totally destitute," she said.

"I've applied for a judicial review and asked the judge to put me back on salary and benefits. I've done nothing. It's discrimination."

The Chief Justice agreed with both lawyers in the case that the matter of the deportation order should only be reconsidered by the authorities once Ms Damljanovic's application for judicial review in her employment dispute has been decided.

"She is a free person until matters are proceeded with," he said yesterday.

He heard that application in a private hearing in his chambers yesterday, where Ms Damljanovic represented herself. He told her he needed to consider the issues, but would make a ruling within 14 days.

The Ministry of Education was invited to comment on this story, but had not done so by press time.