Here's a good reason not to go to France, especially if you sing in a Ukrainian choir, get hungry, and venture out for food without being able to speak French. Apparently that's all it takes to bring out a real mean streak in Inspector Clouseau and his minions:
French policemen beat four members of “Dumka” National Choir of Ukraine ... in Clermont-Ferran city of France on 7 December.
...the four choir members went out of their hotel to buy some food in a near-by supermarket. They received 500-euro bonds from the tour organizers. When they tried to pay for food, supermarket employees ... called police...
According to ... the choir chief, unknown people in civil [sic] clothes arrived into the supermarket and began to demand from choir members all their money. As the Ukrainian musicians does not know the French language, they could not understand ... and offered resistance. As it appeared later, the people in civil clothes were police employees. In their turn, the French policemen used force. The beaten Ukrainian citizens were taken to a nearest police station. ...
... the 500-euro bonds authenticity was proved after an inspection, and ... the policemen, who arrested the Ukrainians, did not have on them anything that indicated them as policemen...
The police commissariat representatives apologized for “misunderstanding” and recognized the mistake of the French policemen during the arrest of the Ukrainian singers.
The Ukrainians were discharged from custody, after which they turned to the nearest medical institution to register their beating.
At present the choir collective continues its tour in France. ...
Full article here.
(If I were the choir director, I'd cancel the tour and demand compensation in the form of full payment for the remainder of the tour. In cash.)
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Thank you for brining up this story, Pawlina.
The choir director probably can’t afford a lawyer and doesn’t want any trouble. After all, it’s normal practice for Ukrainians to be treated as subhumans from the moment they step inside Western embassies. Watch this video.
Not so with high net worth individuals. This rare category of Ukrainians always receives the warmest of welcomes to spend its hard-earned money in Monte Carlo.
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