Homel: court justifies bans of opposition’s pickets

On 3 November the deputy head of Tsentralny district court of Homel Siarhei Shytsikau upheld the refuse of Homel city executive committee to authorize pickets which the opposition intended to hold within the frame of the electoral campaign. The applications for authorization of pickets were file by the democratic activists Andrei Tolchyn, Piatro Kuzniatsou, Natallia Shchukina and Alexander Protska.

The formal reason for the refusals to authorize the pickets is ‘violation of the order for holding mass actions (article 5 of the law On mass actions). At the trial the representative of the executive committee was not able to explain what had been violated by the applicants. In their refusal the executive committee stated that the activists had not attached financial agreements with the police, medics and community services (according to the officials’ opinion the opposition is to pay for medical serving of the action participants, presence of the police and cleaning of the territory after the end of an action).

The opposition activists intend to appeal against the court verdict.