Activist charged over animal rights protest
A performance against the meat industry staged at Minsk’s Kamaroŭski market on 26 March 2016. Photo: onliner.by.
Civil society activist Pavel Siarhei has received a letter saying that he is charged with staging an illegal picket at the Kamaroŭski market in Minsk (an offense under Art. 23.34 of the Administrative Code).
On March 26, several activists wearing cow masks protested against what they said was mass killing of animals. They also handed out leaflets campaigning for ethical and healthy lifestyle.
The peaceful action was organized by the activists of two youth groups, Cost of Living and Ecological Search, and was negatively received by the sellers of meat products despite carrying no threat to public order. In the end, the guards asked the activists to leave the market.
“I think that if we handed out flyers advertising sausages, no one would pay any attention to us,” says Pavel Siarhei.
