15 pickets banned in Brest district
On 16 March activists of the Belarusian Leftist Party
"Fair World" intended to hold actions in 14 villages and the town of
Damachava to express their protest against the ongoing increase of prices on
foodstuffs and public utilities, which had an especially negative impact on the
economical situation of pensioners and families with many children.
They also intended to hand out informational materials about the real
socio-economical situation in the country. According to the head of the Brest
district branch of "Fair World", Anatol Novik, all applicants
received similar answers from the village executive committees: it was stated
that they needed to come to the executive committees to clear some questions
connected to the picketing. However, the Law "On Mass Events" doesn't
provide such a procedure – according to it an applicant can receive either a
positive or a negative answer.
So, the applicants refused to come to the executive committees, after which
they received identical letters that their actions was banned as they hadn't
come there.