Several hundreds of taxi drivers have began a protest in Bialystok, northeastern Poland to make a stand in solidarity with a co-worker who was mugged.

The demonstration is against the decision of the prosecutors in the case of a taxi driver who was mugged three months ago. The prosecutors have not filed the case as an ‘attempted murder,’ prompting the drivers to take action.

The taxi drivers have blocked a parking lot and road entering the city from the south. They have stopped their cars in the middle of a north-south road through the city and have ended before the regional courthouse.

In the middle of November 2008, two 17-year-old boys ordered a taxi to the local mall in Bialystok. The minors proceeded to attack the 65-year-old driver with a hammer and choke him with rope. The man managed to escape and the boys were arrested. They are charged with committing a crime using dangerous weapons. (mmj)