Mahiliou resident tried to get an audience with the head of the Mahiliou Regional Executive Committee through court

On 11 September Valiantsina Tarasava, Judge of the Leninski District Court of Mahiliou, considered an appeal aggainst the activities of the duty officials of the Mahiliou Regional Executive Committee concerning the refusal of the head of the executive committee Piatro Rudnik to accept him.

The judge considered that the refusal was justified, as earlier Dzmitry Yaustratau had received some answers to his questions from the officers of the Mahiliou Regional Executive Committee and the Mahiliou District Executive Committee.

"I tried to get an appointment with Piatro Rudnik, because I believe that during the last five years the Mahiliou Regional Department of the State Control Committee discovered more than 900 violations in decision-making in land legislation. Moreover, on the basis of my experience of defending my rights I came to the conclusion that during the withdrawal of plots of land the officials are guided only by Presidential Decree No. 667 and ignore the requirements of Article 5 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus “On Land” and Article 3 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On the local government and self-government in the Republic of Belarus”, which determined the openness and responsiveness to public opinion when making decisions about providing or withdrawing plots of land,” said Dzmitry Yaustratau.

The activist also says that there hasn't been any cases when the officials initiated any decisions with the account of the aforementioned legal norms.

“Moreover, Article 37 of the Constitution says that citizens have the right to participate in the affairs of state both directly and through freely elected representatives", says Dzmitry Yaustratau.

The activist says that the non-implementation of these legal norms violates his rights and interests, as well as the rights and interests of other citizens.

“The judge stated that the authorities had given me an answer already, but I have received an answer only concerning the village of Niadashava 2 in the Mahiliou district, where I had a litigation with the authorities concerning the violation of the procedure of passing the land to a farmer. They also passed the land there without any public discussing. And what shall with at least 900 discovered violations,” revolts Dzmitry.

In the near future the activist intends to appeal the judge's decision at the Mahiliou Regional Court. Bear in mind that several months ago the activists of the Belarusian Social-Democratic Party (Hramada) initiated the adoption of the Law “On Public Hearings”. Their proposal was signed by 500 peope, including the majority of dwellers of the village of Niadashava 2 in the Mahiliou district of the Mahiliou region.