{"id":11776,"date":"2018-12-13T10:11:21","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T09:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/police-take-disproportionate-action-at-peaceful-march-in-katowice\/"},"modified":"2019-03-21T12:48:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-21T11:48:48","slug":"police-take-disproportionate-action-at-peaceful-march-in-katowice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/police-take-disproportionate-action-at-peaceful-march-in-katowice\/","title":{"rendered":"Police take disproportionate action at peaceful march in Katowice"},"content":{"rendered":"

March For Climate at COP2<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe<\/span>\u2019ve received information that <\/span>you might be bringing dangerous items <\/span>into Katowice. Please step out of the bus and leave your bags inside, we will now search through them<\/span>\u201d – those were the words that <\/span>citizens<\/span> from Warsaw and Wroclaw heard on their way to the March for Climate, planned to start midday on Saturday <\/span>the<\/span> 8th <\/span>of<\/span> December. The bus from Warsaw was held up for over 90 minutes. Needless to say, no dangerous items were found<\/span>, but <\/span>consequently<\/span> many people didn<\/span>\u2019t arrive<\/span> on time for the <\/span>start of the <\/span>march. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very disappointed by the actions of the police, who repeatedly stalled and thwarted our <\/span>event. Our guests – both from Poland and abroad – were held up, searched, and even denied entry into Katowice. Allegations were based on absurd reasons.<\/span>\u201d – said Ewa Sufin-Jacquemart, one of the organisers of the March for Climate. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Towards the end of this peaceful <\/span>gathering, without warning<\/span> and with no reason given, police at the back of the march <\/span>charged<\/span> in and grabb<\/span>ed three <\/span>men out of the crowd. The<\/span> men, who were detained for four hours<\/span>, were<\/span> subsequently<\/span> accused of attacking the police <\/span>\u2013 an event which is dismissed by numerous witnesses<\/span>. Another <\/span>man was pushed onto the ground – his clothes ripped off his body – and kept half-naked in the December cold<\/span>. The police, despite being asked, g<\/span>ave no grounds for the illegal detention. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet me emphasise:<\/span> police in heavy riot gear ran into the group of peaceful <\/span>marchers<\/span> who took part in a<\/span> legal and well organised event<\/span>\u201d – said Wojciech Szymalski, one of the organisers of the march.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“The high numbers of police, with their<\/span> guns and tear<\/span> gas <\/span>was<\/span> unnecessary<\/span>, compared to the number of participants<\/span> – especially when<\/span> juxtaposed against the positive, peaceful, picnic-like atmosphere at the march<\/span>\u201d – added Igor Skorzybot, one of the organisers. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The objective of March for Climate, which attracted over three thousand participants in Katowice and other cities of Poland, is simple, but critical. We gathered to appeal to <\/span>politicians<\/span> across <\/span>the world for immediate action to <\/span>prevent catastrophic<\/span> climate <\/span>change<\/span> on this planet. The positive message of <\/span>the march is captured <\/span>with<\/span>in the March for Climate <\/span>Manifesto<\/span><\/a><\/u>.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Based upon evidence presented to us, we believe that the police, rather than behaving as enforcers of the law, acted with pre-meditation to negatively affect the outcome of this peaceful march, attended by citizens<\/span> who care about our common future.<\/span>” – said Radoslaw Gawlik, co-organiser.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

We want to pass <\/span>on th<\/span>e following message to all – both officially and unofficially responsible for the direction our country has taken<\/span> – an example of which was witnessed on Saturday<\/span>:<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You are trying to <\/b><\/span>disrupt<\/b><\/span> our marches, our freedom of speech and our democracy. <\/b><\/span>Your actions are accelerating the demise of<\/b><\/span> our environment and affecting human health for generations to come. Y<\/b><\/span>et you appear oblivious to these facts.<\/b><\/span> <\/b>However, <\/b><\/span>we believe in the wisdom of <\/b><\/span>our<\/b><\/span> people. Those same people, who <\/b><\/span>are being impacted by<\/b><\/span> the <\/b><\/span>consequences of your choices<\/b><\/span>: die prematurely from <\/b><\/span>air pollution<\/b> or descend into poverty. Those <\/b><\/span>same people who are also concerned<\/b><\/span> about the future of their children and grandchildren. It<\/b><\/span>\u2019<\/b>s for them, and with them, that we will continue our March for Climate – from today<\/b><\/span>, and every day onwards<\/b><\/span>. <\/b>You have<\/b><\/span> tried to stall our March<\/b><\/span>. Y<\/b>ou <\/b><\/span>will not<\/b><\/span> stall our fight for the environment, the climate, an<\/b><\/span>d for the future of our people<\/b><\/span>.<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Signed<\/span> by the organisers of the March for Climate: <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Ewa Sufin-Jacquemart, Fundacja Strefa Zieleni<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Wojciech Szymalski, Instytut na rzecz Ekorozwoju<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Maciej Smykowski, Fundacja Piaskowy Smok<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Igor Sk\u00f3<\/span>rzybut i Joanna G\u00f3<\/span>rska, Stowarzyszenie Ostra Ziele\u0144<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Paulina Lota, Fundacja Ku\u017ania Kampanier\u00f3<\/span>w<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rafa\u0142 G\u00f3<\/span>rski, Instytut Spraw Obywatelskich INSPRO<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Rados<\/span>\u0142aw Gawlik, Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczne EKO-UNIA<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Press release<\/span><\/p>\n

Monday 10th December 2018<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March For Climate at COP2 \u201cWe\u2019ve received information that you might be bringing dangerous items into Katowice. Please step out of the bus and leave your bags inside, we will now search through them\u201d – those were the words that citizens from Warsaw and Wroclaw heard on their way to the March for Climate, planned …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[94,82],"tags":[96,95],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11776"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11785,"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11776\/revisions\/11785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eko-unia.org.pl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}