Members of Hare Krishna community are charged with use of obscene language

Several days ago, Polatsk police detained two members of Hare Krishna community and charged them under Art. 17.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, “disorderly conduct".

On January 15 one of the detainees managed to study the materials of his case at the Tsentralny District Court of Minsk and make a motion for the postponement of the trial as he would be away on a mission in the nearest days. The preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 21.

The situation of the other detainee will be cleared tomorrow at the Orsha City and District Court.

As it became known from the words of the detainees, they proposed passers-by to talk and read some books while standing near a shopping center in Polatsk. They were approached by a woman who introduced herself as the manager of the store and asked them to move away from the building.

Therepresentatives of the Hare Krishna community obeyed the request, but nevertheless were detained by the police. They were kept at the police department for six hours. The police didn't explain the reasons for the detention, their rights and duties. The detainees were charged with “using obscene language in public”. It's worth nothing that the use of obscene language is contrary to the religious beliefs of the detained individuals, that's why they could hardly committed such offense. After drawing up the violation reports on the basis of the appeal of the management of the shopping store the members of the Hare Krishna community were let go. The administrative cases against them were sent to the courts in the places of their registration, in Minsk and Orsha.