Supreme Court turned down appeal against non-registration of ‘Nasha Viasna’

The founders of the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna did not manage to get abolished the decision of the Ministry of Justice on the non-registration.

On 12 August, having heard the explanations of the plaintiffs, a representative of the Ministry of Justice and prosecutor Kostrykava (who upheld the non-registration of Nasha Viasna), the Supreme Court stated that:

The reason for the state registration denial to the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna was incorrect or distorted information in the list of the founders.

Besides, the registering organ was denied the opportunity to hold a check-up of the documents concerning the legal address of the organization. The guarantee letter concerning lending an office cannot be recognized as a sufficient document proving that the organization has a legal address. The abovementioned circumstances, mentioned in the letter of the Ministry of Justice, are confirmed by the list of the founders of the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna. The court checked the personal data listed in this document, as well as the attached materials related to the check-up of the guarantee letter concerning the placement of the legal address.

The court is of the opinion that the Ministry of Justice had reasons to deny the state registration to the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna. That’s why the appeal of Bialiatski, Labkovich and Stefanovich cannot be satisfied.

The Supreme Court also thinks that the arguments of the plaintiffs that the aforementioned shortcomings could be corrected in the process of the registration are groundless, as it is a right, not an obligation of the Ministry of Justice to provide the opportunity for correction of defects.

According to the court opinion, other circumstances, drawn in the letter of the Ministry of Justice on the registration denial to the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna, cannot serve as a ground for the registration denial.

Taking into account all the abovementioned and being guided by Articles 302 and 306 of the Criminal Process Code of the Republic of Belarus the Supreme Court decided not to satisfy the appeal of Bialiatski A.V., Stefanovich V.K. and Labkovich U.M. against the denial of the state registration to the civil human rights association Nasha Viasna.