Vitsebsk authorities don't reply to application for action in honor of Kastus Kalinouski

Yan Dziarzhautsau, a member of the Conservative-Christian Party "Belarusian Popular Front", filed an application with Vitsebsk City Executive Committee for holding a street rally on 10 March with the aim to mark the 150th anniversary of the insurgency under the direction of Kastus Kalinouski.

According to to the law, the authorities were to have given an answer at least five days before the event, on 5 March.

Mr. Dziarzhautsau filed the application with Vitsebsk CEC, as the rules of applying for the authorization of mass events had been adopted by it. In particular, the ruling of the CEC "On holding mass events in the city of Vitsebsk" obliges the organizers of mas events to attach service agreements with the Police Department of Vitsebsk Region Executive Committee, Vitsebsk city central polyclinic and Vitsebsk Housing and Communal Services to their applications.

To implement these conditions, Yan Dziarzhautsau applied to the aforementioned institutions in advance, asking to conclude the service agreements, but received a positive answer only from the Housing and Communal Services.

The head physician of Vitsebsk City Polyclinic Stanislau Tsitovich refused to conclude such agreement with reference to a seasonal rise in illnesses and a great load on the ambulance.

The deputy head of the public security department of the Police Board of Vitsebsk Region Executive Committee Ihar Skarynovich refused to conclude a service agreement with Mr. Dziarzhautsau as he believed that the route of the street rally didn't correspond to the Law "On Mass Events". However, nobody asked him to tell his opinion: the power to make conclusions concerning the compatibility of the route with the law belongs to the state agencies who are responsible for the authorization of mass events, whereas the duty of the police is just to guard the public order...

"I attached only the service agreement with the housing and communal utilities to my applications, and answers of the other two institutions instead of the service agreements with them. Let the executive committee know how the people who are to foster the realization of my civil rights, including the right to public expression of opinions, work. However, the authorities seem reluctant to implement legal requirements as well, leave alone personal freedoms: five days are left to the action, whereas I still haven't received any answer from the city executive committee," commented Mr. Dziarzhautsau.