Global Marijuana/Cannabis March Meets Heavy-Handed Opposition
In Brazil, a spokesperson for www.marchadamaconha.org, organisers of the “Marcha da Maconha Brasil 2008″ had this to say on the situation facing the South American cannabis community.

“We are facing in Brazil too much repression against the march. From 10 cities that were confirmed for the march, the Justice prohibited 6 cities from taking part. As citizens of a democracy we are very disappointed”.

It was a similar story in Moscow, with the Military and Police blocking the way to the Friendship of Nations fountain at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. The meeting place for the 2006 Global Marijuana March in Russia, organised once again by the Cannabis Legalize League (CLL), who were hoping not to have any injuries to treat this year.

[A spokesman for CLL said,] “We published an official statement on the CLL site, so that both authorities and activists could learn that no marches would be held in Moscow in 2008. We invited our supporters to come to the “Friendship of Nations” fountain at the All-Russia Exhibition Centre. We made it quite clear there should be no banners or other means of political propaganda: only thematic clothes, excellent mood and musical instruments.”

“As soon as the statement was published we received an aggressive reaction from the Federal Service of Drug Control (Russian DEA analog). In the interview to one of the most famous Russian news agencies the head of the informational department of the FSDC Alexander Mikhailov commented our action in the following expressions”:

“Legalization of cannabis as a drug is out of the question. This theme mustn’t be discussed at all. Such actions are the grossest breach of the peace and hooliganism. This is a spring exacerbation on which the bodies of internal affairs and psychiatrists should react”.
When we arrived at the “Friendship of Nations” on May, 3rd, at 3 P.M. we found out that the fountain was blocked by forces of OMON and metal fences. Members of OMON and plain-clothes special police pulled from the crowd everybody who seemed suspicious to them no matter if it was a Rastafarian, a punk, an emo or just a long-haired guy. In a few minutes 8 persons were arrested without any reasons. Some of them knew nothing about the action and came to the All-Russia Exhibition Centre just to have fun on the holiday. All the journalists who managed to film the arrests were forced to erase their videos and photos under threat of arrest and/or spoiling their camera’s.

“40 minutes later I was sitting in a company of 8 or 10 people in 200 metres from the fountain. We did nothing and spent our time chatting and waiting for the other activists, so that we could go to a more peaceful place. We just wanted to change our location when a band of OMON came near us and asked us to stay where we are.”

“As I remembered clearly the last year march and as it was still possible to get out, I tried to run away. I was lucky to reach the exit from the All-Russia Exhibition Centre when a backheel of a non-uniformed person stopped me. Two seconds of free-fall - and I was lying on the ground. As I wasn’t able to stand up myself the members of OMON began to beat me. I don’t remember the moment I got to the military bus. The left side of my body was injured but the men in the bus denied me in any medical assistance. I could receive some help only in the police station.”

“Our treatment in the police station was much better than last year. Only one guy of about 15 of our arrested supporters was subjected to pressure from the policemen. It took us two hours to understand the reason of our imprisoning. It sounded very funny and absolutely illegal. The reason for our detention was that the Federal Service of Drug Control just wanted to speak to us about the harm of drugs and any actions devoted to their legalization. So after 3 hours in the police department all of us were released from custody without any claims, fees or protocols and could continue the Cannabis Walk.”

“As a result of this amiable drug education lesson with the representatives of law I now have a fracture of a clavicle and several less painful but much more effective injuries - a good illustration of their methods of leading discussion as well as a good occasion for further legal struggle.”

Tags: Brazil, Global Marijuana March, Russia

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 9:36 am and is filed under 4:20 NewsHour, Cannabis Community, International, Law Enforcement. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a trackback from your own site.