Salihorsk: Absence of response to electronic petition appealed to Prosecutor's Office

Representatives of the Salihorsk office of the Belarusian Language Society NGO have not yet received a response to their complaint about violations of the Law "On the Geographical Names of Objects”, which was sent to the local executive committee in late September.

According to the Law, electronic petitions should be considered in the same manner as written ones. Electronic addresses are submitted to the state authorities through their e-mail or posted in a special section on their official websites. Contrary to the legislation, Salihorsk executive committee accepts electronic petitions only through a special form on the site, ignoring the right of citizens to send electronic complaints through e-mail. Among other restrictions, citizens lose the technical ability to confirm the fact of the submission. Given the circumstances, representatives of the NGO decided to appeal the violation of the law to the District Prosecutor's Office of Salihorsk. The complaint to the supervisory authority is expected to be a precedent of at least district level. According to the activists, whatever the process may end with, public control over observance of the law is sure to make officials be more responsible in their treatment of electronic petitions.