Slonim authorities ban anti-alcohol picket

Ivan Bedka, a member of the Belarusian Christian Democracy’s Slonim branch, applied for holding a picket asking for official permission of the Slonim District Executive Committee. The picket was supposed to attract public attention to the problems of excessive use of alcohol and tobacco in Slonim.

As a result, the activist has received a reply signed by the chairman of the Slonim District Executive Committee Aleg Tarhonski, which says that the picket was banned because “there is no information about the source of funding; besides, the route of participants of the said event was not specified,” writes harodniaspring.org.

It turns out that holding a picket today requires information on who finances the picket and details on “the route of the picket”. Perhaps, Slonim District Executive Committee officials do not see any difference between a picket, a rally or a march. This ignorance once again prevented members of the Slonim democratic forces to hold their event. Similar negative responses have been received by local activists for about 10 years.