The pandemic writes the bizarre stories – and one of them in the middle of St. Pölten. There scene landlord Valentin Kopatz founded a party months ago, in the current lockdown he declared his bar Tennessee to be the party headquarters. It opens three times a week to its more than 100 members. Last weekend, however, the police broke up the nightly meeting.
According to the current Emergency Measures Ordinance, meetings of political parties are permitted – but only if they cannot be postponed and cannot be held digitally. “Our meetings are legal,” Kopatz is convinced. Because its now more than 100 members are mostly “simple people without stable internet access”. In addition, important elections would be held at the meetings. “Finally we voted on the cleaning agent that is used in the party headquarters. Next week we will decide whether the Zwickl should be included in the canteen program ”, said Kopatz with a serious expression. No controls In the restaurant on Wiener Straße, he now has, as he emphasizes, the situation from 2019 again. That means: no masks, no distance, no access controls. He sells bottled beer to the members of his “Community of Independent People”, and there is also a lot of smoking. Police cleared the bar on the first day of the opening, Kopatz made the acquaintance of the police, a week later the officers got serious. They cleared the place on Sunday at 1 a.m. According to the magistrate, the meetings are illegal.Next Chapter Anyone who thinks that this is the end of this story is mistaken. Kopatz doesn’t want to give up. “This is an attack on a democratic institution, it is a breach of the constitution,” he says annoyed. For his part, he will file a complaint and sue for an omission. He will therefore continue to unlock. So the last chapter seems far from being written …
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