Article 193-1 may be repealed, says Ministry of Justice

The Belarusian Ministry of Justice says the infamous Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code (illegal NGO membership) may soon be repealed. The statement was made at the OSCE annual Human Dimension Meeting in Warsaw, Poland.
Representatives of Belarusian NGOs have presented their reports on the situation in the field of freedom of association in Belarus, including the application of Article 193-1 as a means of harassing members of unregistered NGOs. Valiantsin Stefanovich, lawyer of the Human Rights Center Viasna, spoke on Nasha Viasna’s registration trial at the Supreme Court on 10-12 August 2009.
At the same time, the meeting was visited by representatives of the official Minsk.
‘An official from the Ministry of Justice officially declared that the Ministry was considering the question of reforming the Criminal Code. The responsibility for illegal membership will be transferred to the Civil Code,’ said Ales Bialiatski.