A man described being handcuffed, arrested and stripped in a police cell for the crime of not giving his name after being caught taking his family to their favorite Welsh beach.
Husband SITTED to stand up for his wife. They went for a walk on the nearest beach after her brother was admitted to the hospital and was in a coma. He asked them to stop harassing her. So handcuffs up and down to the Wrexham police station. #inclusion # COVID-19 @northwaleslive pic.twitter.com/fnGUgD10tI
– Neil McEvoy MS (@neiljmcevoy) March 1, 2021
Radek Kotlarek moved with his family from London to Wales for a peaceful life seven years ago. But the treatment of the Welsh police over the weekend, he says, inflicted more on the Nazi German or the communist era in his native Poland.
He told his story to Breitbart London:
My family has been under supervision for some time. We had illness and death among our relatives in Poland and my children – we have two sons – were particularly affected. So on Sunday we took our older son, who is 17, for a short walk on his favorite beach, about twenty miles from where we live.
After our walk we had an ice cream and in the parking lot we saw two police officers handing out tickets for violating Covid legislation. I did not feel we were committing a crime. A female officer has outlined the rules for taking exercise too far from your home. I tried to explain to her that this interruption is essential for our mental health. But she did not seem very compassionate or understanding.
I asked ‘Am I being held? Because if not, I want to enjoy the rest of my afternoon and you are harassing me. ‘
She asked me to give my name and when I refused – because I did not commit any crime – she arrested me.
I was handcuffed and taken to a Wrexham police station. I was locked in an interrogation room. A police sergeant told me he could hold me for 24 hours if I refused to cooperate.
I said, ‘I do not agree. I took my family for an ice cream. ‘
At this point, the police sergeant got really angry and frustrated and bullied. He shouted in my face, “I’m in charge and giving the instructions.” Then he told me I was going to do strip searches, which really shocked me.
After about 45 minutes, two different officers appear. I said, ‘Will you please untie my right shackle, because it’s very tight and stops my circulation?’ They refused. Then I said, ‘I have to use the bathroom.’ They said, “Not until we’re done.”
I was taken to a detention cell where there was an open toilet. I asked for privacy and toilet paper. The sergeant said, “No shit for him until we’re done.”
They asked me what my clothes were. I told them I was happy in my own clothes.
Then they came in with scissors and said that if I did not cooperate, they would cut my clothes and forcibly remove them from me.
At what point did I agree to do what they said. I stood naked in front of them. Well, not completely naked: first I changed from my top, then from the bottom. But I would say that if your genitals are exposed while two men are looking at you, it’s naked.
This is the kind of thing you could expect in Nazi Germany – but not in a civilized modern democracy.
After three hours, I was released without charge and no fine. It was all for free.
Kotlarek’s case was taken up by a member of the Welsh Assembly, Neil McEvoy MS.
McEvoy is a campaigner by closing time who himself came in contact with the local police. He was caught on film harassing him after distributing political subjects as he campaigned to oust Wales’ hard-left Prime Minister Mark Drakeford. Drakeford was responsible for probably the most draconian closure regulations in the UK.
McEvoy said of Kotlarek’s case: ‘It’s outrageous, but it’s a sign of the times. The police have become very authoritarian and no longer in Wales. ”
Police in North Wales have issued a statement on the incident.
Following the distribution of a video and many subsequent comments on social media, Chief Superintendent Nigel Harrison said:
The person on Talacre Beach was interviewed because officers reasonably suspected he had committed an offense, which in this case was a violation of the Coronavirus regulations.
The man, who is from the coastal town of Rhos on Sea, about 22 km away, was arrested because his details could not be ascertained at the time, so he could be reported for the alleged offense.
The officers behaved in a calm and reasonable manner as I would expect.
As always the case, if the individual wants to inquire or complain about the way they were treated, we will of course check the full circumstances.
Kotlarek is now seeking legal advice.
He told Breitbart News:
It was humiliating. But it’s not about me or taking revenge. I just do not want to live in a society where the most basic human rights are not respected and where people are treated like animals.