Kalinkavichy activist files complaint against picketing ban

Kalinkavichy civil society activist Tamara Zaitsava filed a complaint to the district court against local executive committee officials, who banned a gathering outside the editorial office of the state-run newspaper “Kalinkavitskiya naviny.” The ban referred to the fact that the place is not on the list of locations authorized for mass gatherings by a decision of Kalinkavichy executive committee.

"I believe that the ban on the peaceful assembly is illegal, it violates my right to freedom of mass events and freedom of expression,” says the activist. “I think that the decision of the executive committee is contrary to Articles 23, 33 and 35 of the Constitution, Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

In her statement, Tamara Zaitsava explains in detail why the local authorities violated the fundamental law of the country and international laws, requiring to invalidate paragraph 1 of the decision "On Mass Events", as well as to find the ban on the picket unlawful.