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Pickets "For fair elections without Lukashenka" are banned all over Belarus

2012 2012-05-14T17:35:43+0300 1970-01-01T03:00:00+0300 en https://spring96.org/files/images/sources/magileu2.jpg The Human Rights Center “Viasna” The Human Rights Center “Viasna”
The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

The appropriate campaign was launched by the United Civil Party. Such pickets were banned in Babruisk, Barysau, Brest and Mahiliou. The organizers wanted to hold the actions in busy places in order to attract the attention of the population. However, they were usually answered that the pickets could be held only in the places that had been officially determined for such actions.

As a rule, such places are located on the outskirts or in some unfrequented places. Another reason for the denials is the "failure of the organizers to conclude paid service agreements with police, medics and communal utilities". However, these institutions refuse to conclude any agreements with organizers of street actions before seeing an official permission, signed by the authorities.

In Brest, the organizers were prohibited to hold their action on "Locomotive" stadium (an officially determined place for mass events) as a festive program would be held there on the occasion of the Day of Family.

Babruisk authorities submitted quite an interesting answer to the organizers. Deputy head of the Babruisk City Executive Committee Aliaksandr Markachou (who has recently occupied the position of the chief ideologist) wrote that the application didn’t comply with Article 2 of the Law “On Mass Events” which contains no notion of “picket”, and violated Article 8 of the Law, according to which the organizers had no right to publish information about the place and the date of the action before receiving an official permit (on 5 May 2012 the web-site of “Babruiski Kur’yer” published information about the intention of the people to hold the action).

The authorities also studied the working schedule of one of the organizers, Valery Mikitka and wrote that as far as he would work at the time of the event, he would violate the first paragraph of his undertaking (to be present at the event”. Moreover, according to the head of the Babruisk UCP Viktar Buzinayeu, the official also threatened the organizers with administrative punishment in case they decided to hold unauthorized actions.

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