Mahiliou authorities ban picket of Metalworkers’ Free Trade Union

The event was to be held on August 9 at a location specified for the purposes by the executive committee.

Activists of the Free Trade Union of Metalworkers were going to protest against the fact that the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus delays the issue of a stamp and the Union’s Charter to the trade union leader Aliaksandr Bukhvostau.

The ban refers to the fact that the police cannot protect law and order during the mass event.

Local FTUM leader Halina Lisitsyna emphasizes that the application for a picket was filed in accordance with the law two weeks before the planned event, and that the picket was expected to involve 10 people.

"We are very surprised and outraged that the picket is banned. Moreover, it was to be held in the place approved by the authorities, on a pitch outside the Khimik stadium. Now we are consulting about what we do next and whether we need to appeal the decision,” says Halina Lisitsyna.