Supreme Economic Court turns down claim by Nash Dom newspaper

The Supreme Economic Court of Belarus dismissed a claim by the founders of the Nash Dom newspaper against the Ministry of Information’s refusal to register the edition.

The claimant argued that the Ministry should have either registered the newspaper or refused the registration, instead of returning the application. The newspaper’s founders urged the court to make the officials consider the application on its merits.

The Ministry of Information, in turn, claimed that it could not have taken a decision, since the application was incomplete.

According to the lawyer Pavel Levinau, who represented the newspaper in court, the founders have a right to appeal the decision.

However, the Nash Dom newspaper keeps being published without state registration.