Biaroza: protesting against Russian military bases in Belarus are "inciting of hatred and extremism"

Biaroza District Executive Committee prohibited Biaroza human rights defenders and social activists to hold a picket on March 9.

97 years ago the Executive Committee of the All-Belarusian Congress adopted the second charter in response to the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, to procrlaim the Belarusian People's Republic. The picket organizers wanted to remind citizens about this and to protest against the deployment of Russian military bases on the territory of Belarus and the existence of political prisoners. One of the organizers of the picket, Siarhei Rusetski, notes: the waiver, signed by the deputy head of the Biaroza District Executive Committee Yauhen Tarasiuk, reads that that the aim of the picket constitutes extremism and inciting ethnic hatred.

According to Mr. Rusetski, last year he was not allowed to picket on March 25, but at that time these aims of the picket weren't regarded as fomentation of national enmity or extremism. At that time the authorities regarded as extremism his intention to protest against the presence of the Russian military troops on the territory of the Ukraine. Though this point was removed from the list of the picket goals, the event was banned.