Supreme Court Annulled Warnings to Belarusian People’s Front and Party of Communists of Belarus
In February 2006 the Ministry of Justice issued warnings to the BPF Party and the Party of Communists of Belarus for alleged interference with the activity of state organs. The matter is that in January 2006 the heads of these parties, Vintsuk Viachorka and Siarhei Kaliakin respectively, applied to district and borough executive committees with the demand to explain to them the order of forming of polling station election commissions and the way representatives of their parties can be included into them. The Ministry of Justice treated this move as interference with the activity of state organs and warned the parties for it.
The complaint of the parties against the warning was considered during three days. The court decided to set the decision aside and concluded that the state organs had to give the demanded explanations.
The chair of the juridical commission of the BPF Party Uladzimir Labkovich thusly commented on the decision of the Supreme Court: ‘While all state organs were busy interfering with the activity of all political subjects of the electoral campaign (illegal arrests of the campaign activists, searches in the offices of political parties, fines and confiscations of computer equipment and printed production) the Ministry of Justice also decided to make its contribution, show its importance and necessity in this campaign. However, it made it unprofessionally and without grounding on any laws, that’s why the Supreme Court couldn’t help to the ministry as it happened during liquidation of public associations and political parties. In this case the warning was so absurd that even the Supreme Court decided it had to be abolished.
The warning to the BPF contained of two paragraphs. The second concerned the inconformity of the activity of some organizational structures of the party with the acting legislation and its own Statute. This part of the warning was left in force by the Supreme Court. So, the Supreme Court annulled the warning that was issued to both parties for interference with the activity of state organs. It’s quite interesting that the persons who had participated in the liquidation of HRC Viasna several years ago (judge Kulik and representative of the Ministry of Justice Fishkina) took part in this trial.
