Baranavichy officials ban picket against corruption and high utility prices

The Baranavichy City Executive Committee has banned a picket against corruption and high utility prices. It became known from a letter signed by the deputy chairman of the executive committee Dzmitry Kastsiukevich.

The letter says that the applicant (local civil society activist Mikalai Charnavus) has not only failed to comply with all the requirements of paragraph 5 of Article 5 of the Law “On Mass Events in Belarus”, but also specified a wrong venue for the picket, according to a new decision of the executive committee.

“I believe that I have fulfilled all legal requirements when applying for the picket, but the Baranavichy city executive committee ignores Article 6 of the Act and traditionally fails to mention the reasons for the ban, so I do not know what exactly I violated in my application. I think that the picket was not banned because I have specified the wrong venue according to a new decision of the executive committee, although at the time of submission of the application, I had not seen this decision in the official newspaper Nash Krai. I am sure that I was not allowed to hold a picket because of the goals of the picket,” comments Mikalai Charnavus.