Hrodna: Leninski District Court goes its usual way
On 30 June the Leninski District Court of Hrodna
considered the appeal of Aliaksandra Vasilevich, the head of the Hrodna city
organization of the United Civil Party, against the refusal of the Hrodna City
Executive Committee to authorize a picket under the slogan “For honest
elections without Lukashenka”.
The court ignored the plaintiff's arguments and upheld the refusal. The
judgement was delivered by Judge Liudmila Zhukouskaya. It's already the fourth
answer of the court to appeals of UCP activists concerning such pickets. In
fact, the city authorities keep issuing analogical bans, while the court
uphelds them in all cases, ignoring the fact that the Constitution of the
Republic of Belarus and international agreements are higher than local legal
acts. Ruling #540 of the Hrodna City Executive Committee, which determines the
places for holding mass events in the city, evidently contradicts these higher
laws.
At this trial the executive committee also pointed that one of the reasons for
the picket ban was the doubt that the applicant would be able to pay for
services of police, medics and communal utilities connected with the picket.
