Ministry of Justice Works to Suspend Pro-democratic Communists
According to its press service, the Ministry of Justice checked the activity of the Party of Communists of Belarus and requested its membership lists. However, the Communists failed to provide the requested documents. The Ministry of Justice sent an official warning to the Party. However, the party again did not present the documents about its membership to the Ministry.
“The Ministry of Justice warned the party leadership about possible consequences of their illegal activities. However, the Party continues to ignore the legislation of the Republic of Belarus and does not take steps which would prove itsdesire to observe the law”, -- writes the Ministry in the text of the suit.
According to Article 31 of the Belarusian law “On Political Parties”, if the Ministry officially warns a political party and it fails to liquidate the violations within a certain period, the Supreme Court may suspend its activity for up to 6 months.
Siarhei Kaliakin, leader of the oppositional Communists, comments: “The Ministry is obviously in a hurry. They are aware of the fact that we have filed an appeal against their warning to the Supreme Court. Before the Court considers our appeal, the warning is not valid and we do not have to obey it. In my mind, the motives of the Ministry are not legal but political. The authorities want to close down the Party of Communists before the up-coming local election”.
