Supreme Court upholds registration denial for United Civic Party’s youth wing
The Supreme Court of Belarus on Wednesday upheld the justice
ministry's decision to deny state registration to the United Civic Party
(UCP)’s youth wing called Maladyya Demakraty (Young Democrats).
"This ruling by the Supreme Court was predictable," Maladyya Demakraty’s member, Dzmitry Kavalhin, told BelaPAN.
"Authorities will use any excuse not to register pro-democratic
organizations. Even so, we plan to continue our activities as
representatives of the founding committee for our organization."
In
its reply to Maladyya Demakraty, the justice ministry said that its
registration papers contained numerous flaws, including incomplete
information and incorrect information about founders of the organization
in the Hrodna region.
In addition, it is clear from the papers
that the identities of those present at the organization’s founding
conference were not verified, the ministry said.
Maladyya Demakraty held a formal founding conference in Minsk on April 14 in yet another attempt to obtain legal status.
Alyaksandra
Vasilevich, a 26-year-old Hrodna-based activist, was elected the
organization’s chairperson. Almost all of the 34 delegates voted for
her. She was elected unopposed.
The delegates summed up the
results of the organization’s activities in the past two years,
describing them as satisfactory. They announced that its activities
would focus on education, sports, and the prevention of corruption in
these areas as well as youth employment.
The organization, which
has de facto existed for many years, applied to the justice ministry
for registration back in 2010, but the application was turned down. The
ministry explained that some fundamental provisions of the
organization's charter were inconsistent with laws.
The previous
chairperson of Maladyya Demakraty, Aleh Korban, quit the UCP in the
summer of 2012 and founded an opposition youth group called Alternatyva
(Alternative).