Court to Hear Liquidation Case of Youth ?#152;New Group’ NGO

The court hearing will take place on 6 April. New Group does education projects in the fields of law, self-governance, and ecology.
Experts say the most likely result of the hearing will be liquidation of the NGO. During the last 12 months none of the Belarusian courts recognized the right of NGOs to exist.
New Group executive director Elada Hukasava told the press service of the Assembly of NGOs, the ground for liquidation were variant readings contained in the NGO documents and stamp. The Justice Ministry made a mistake when during registration of the NGO. The registered Statute of the NGO says the name of the NGO is ?#152;New Group’ (capital letters in both words), and the registration certificate reads ?#152;New group’ (with lowercase letter in the second word). That’s why the NGO stamp produced after consultation with the Justice Ministry gives the name as it is stated in the Statute, and not the registration certificate.
Now the Ministry sues the NGO for its own mistakes.
The second claim of the Ministry is completely in line with the Ministry’s style: violations in registration of the legal address. In October 2003 the New Group changed its legal address. However, from that moment on the Ministry groundlessly refuses to make changes to the NGO statute, although all papers are in order.