Mahiliou authorities ban picket against eviction of single mother

The authorities of Mahiliou have banned a picket that was expected to attract the attention of officials and local residents to the eviction of Ms. Iryna Ilyinskaya from the dormitory together with her two minor children. The picket was scheduled for June 1, International Children’s Day.

The ban refers to the fact that the woman had chosen an improper location for her.

“I do not know how I have to defend my right to live in the dormitory,” says Iryna Ilyinskaya. “Other methods are almost exhausted. I’m on maternity leave, and they want to throw me out with two children without providing other premises. I have been trying to find a job, but all potential employers do not provide a dorm room. I do not know where I should live, if I am evicted.”

Ms. Ilyinskaya has lived in a dormitory of a local building trust for 14 years. She had a contract for accommodation at the request of a third organization. A year ago she was fraudulently forced to sign a one-year contract, and the administration has started eviction proceedings.

The woman tried to protect her right to remain in the hostel through the court, but Judge Yuliya Trapynina of the Leninski District Court sided with the administration of the trust. The Mahiliou Regional Court quashed the decision of the District Court in connection with numerous violations during the trial and sent the case back for retrial. However, there is little hope that the woman will continue to live with her children in the hostel, as the new edition of the Housing Code allows evicting everyone who does not work in the organization that owns the hostel, including single mothers.