Astravets activist not allowed to stage anti-corruption picket

On December 4, a civil society activist from Astravets district, Mikalai Ulasevich, received a ban on a picket he was going to stage this Saturday. The purpose of the picket entitled “Put Corrupt Officials to Justice” was attracting the attention of local residents, as well as law enforcement agencies, to facts of malfeasance and corruption among senior government officials of the district.

The ban is signed by the first deputy chairman of the executive committee, Andrei Yancheuski. The officials believes that Mr. Ulasevich violated the requirement of Article 5 of the Law "On Mass Events", namely by failing to ensure maintaining public order and security during the mass event, and to report on the sources of funding for the picket.

Mikalai Ulasevich comments on this failure as follows, “I view the response as another confirmation of all-permissiveness, which all of us have been facing for many years, as the officials keep ignoring the laws and do everything that want instead. Oddly enough, even the problem of corruption is impossible to be raised, although it seems that the authorities themselves have repeatedly talked about it. In fact, as evidenced by the true state of things, including the reply I received, we should not expect anything but “thunder and lightning” in the fight against corruption as a systemic phenomenon. I will appeal the ban to a court. Although it is now clear what decision will be taken by this authority, which, in fact, is but an appendage of the main branch we have in our country – the executive.”