Homel: court supports ban on May Day rally
On 11 June Judge of the
Tsentralny District of Homel Maryna Damnenka considered the complaint
of the Homel branch of the Belarusian Leftist Party "Fair World"
against the ban on the 1 May rally, issued by
the Home City Executive Committee. The political activists intended
to hold the rally to expresso solidarity with workers. They appealed
the ban to the court,
but to no avail: the court dismissed the complaint and upheld the
executive committee.
The
head of the regional branch of the "Fair World" Uladzimir
Siakerka noted that at the first meeting, he
expressed impeachment to Judge
Maryna Damnenka,
because she repeatedly issued decisions on disputed matters in
favor of the executive committee. "I
explained to the court that I knew
the verdict in advance
because similar rulings kept being issued for
ten years. Let me remind you that the last authorized rally was held
in Homel in 2004 and
soon we will celebrate the tenth anniversary since that date.
Representatives of the executive committee don't attend court
sittings, which is either contempt of court or
unwillingness to answer our questions. We
still haven't got an answer from teh executive
committee how we could hold a mass event in
Homel," said Uladzimir
Siakerka.
To hold a meeting or rally,
one must obtain
a permission from the executive
committee, and to get a permit, it
is necessary to enter into a contract with the
public utilities, police and ambulance
service. These agencies, in their turn, refuse to sign such
contracts referring to the absence of the permission of the executive
committee. The Homel City Executive Committee doesn't give an answer
how to get out of this vicious circle. Instead of answering the
appeal of the leftist, the authorities just mailed them their ruling
on mass events.
The
politician is convinced that the bans
on mass events, issued by the executive committee, violate
the constitutional rights of citizens, and will appeal the ruling to
the higher courts, and then – in
the Human Rights Committee of the UN.
