Baranavichy court supports ban on Milavidy feast
On
15 July the proceedings on the appeal of an activist of the civic
campaign "Tell the Truth!" Viachaslau Bolbat against the
actions of the Baranavichy Distrit Executive Committee continued at
the Baranavichy City and District Court.
According to the
plaintiff, on 3 and 20 May 2013 the executive committee twice
unlafully banned the cultural and educational event "Milavidy
feast in the memory of the insurgents of 1863".
Judge
Vera Uhlik stated that the the Baranavichy District Executive
Committee issued the ban lawfully and dismissed the appeal of Mr.
Bolbat.
During the pleadings Viachaslau Bolbat reiterated that
the organizers of the cultural festival fulfilled all legal
requirements, and the executive committee did everything possible to
cancel their planned holiday near the Milavidy monuments and prevent
the democratic activists from holding the cultural festival dedicated
to the 150th anniversary of the uprising of 1863. He asked the court
to invalidate the decision of the Baranavichy District Executive
Committee of 20 May 2013 by which it was prohibited to hold the
feast on 9 June 2013.
The deputy head of the department of
ideology, cultural and youth affairs Dzmitry Varvashenia insisted
that the applicants violated Article 5 of the Law "On Mass
Events in the Republic of Belarus, having not entered into contracts
with the district police, health center and housing utilities.
"It's
quite strange. Why should we sign new contracts when we sent a letter
to the executive committee with the request to transfer the event
from 2 June to 9 June. The content and the form of the event didn't
change. The new application was considered and signed by the same
official. We had to run around all these officials for a month to
enter into agreements with the police, health center and housing.
They probably want us to spend another month like this, sinking in
this bureaucratic procrastination, instead of creative work,"
commented Mr. Bolbat.
