Why is it that so many groups protest by blocking the passage of major roads and no one is held accountable for this illegal action? It is illegal to block the roads but following through on this is hard for many reasons.
There has to be a group of ten or more people blocking the road for it to be illegal and even when there are thousands they all leave when authorities come and the police only seem to arrest anyone acting out in violence. Even if they are brought to trial there are so many ways to settle without going to jail. In the only case that went to trial for blocking roads, those convicted were sentenced to jail time and fines but ended up just getting a long probation instead.
Another issue is that authorities often don’t respond or do so very late. This is because not even the head of the Ministry of Security can make the call to intervene in a road blockage, rather the President must make the decision.
