Miners claim being threatened when trying to leave Gukovo for Moscow

Attempts of miners to leave the town of Gukovo for Moscow to take part in a meeting with MP Valery Rashkin were blocked. The protesters themselves received threats of violence. This was reported by Valery Dyakonov, one of the leaders of the miners' protests.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 19, about 150 Gukovo miners, who demanded payment of wage arrears, gathered in front of the office of the "Kingcoal" Company with the intention to leave for Moscow to meet MP Valery Rashkin. Until this evening, the police did not remove its cordon near the office of the "Kingcoal" Company, in front of which the miners gathered. Meanwhile, the company-carrier refused to provide the protestors with buses promised for their trip.

On December 20, the miners again made an attempt to leave Gukovo for Moscow, but it did not succeed. This was reported by Valery Dyakonov, one of the leaders of the miners' protests.

"The miners were surrounded by almost triple cordon of policemen and Cossacks. That meant, a counter operation was started, apparently against terrorists, as it was later explained. Carrier admitted that no bus would be provided to us ... I and two other members of the initiative group purchased tickets in advance. However, we have been warned by people who preferred to remain anonymous that if we dare take the bus then the police will break our arms and take us away to some unknown destination," said Valery Dyakonov as quoted by the "BFM.ru".

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.