Police struggle with abstainers
Police banned the initiative group “Temperance is easy!” to do weekly jogging in Gorky Park in Minsk on 2 October.
As initiators of the action
told BelaPAN news agency, the group gathers for jogging every Sunday. Everyone
can join the run at the central gates of Gorky Park
at 9:00 am.
At 9 in
the morning last Sunday, there was a conflict with police when participants
were going to do physical exercise. Law enforcement officers, one in uniform
and the other in mufti, came to participants. Later, two policemen in uniform
came closer. They said running was forbidden and threatened to arrest the
runners for participating in an unauthorized event.
One of the runners asked to explain what authorized and unauthorized events
meant, but policemen ignored the question. They warned that group members would
be detained if they “begin any actions”. In spite of the warning, the group
chose another route for jogging. Organizers of the action for healthy life plan
to run in another place in Minsk
next Sunday.
