Homel authorities ban pickets of support to Ales Bialiatski, too

Homel city executive committee has banned a number of pickets of support to Ales Bialiatski scheduled for 22 August.

The local human rights defenders who had applied for holding the pickets failed to sign the necessary agreements with police, medical and housing departments, says the official reply by Homel city executive officials. Apart from that, the letter refers to the administrative restrictions on mass events, which only allows staging pickets in the city’s outskirts. The activists were going to hold the pickets in Homel’s central squares, instead.

Homel city executive committee has repeatedly banned pickets referring to its own restrictions, including that requiring agreements with police, medical and housing departments.

The human rights defenders say they are going to appeal the ban.