Baranavičy District Court dismisses appeal against ban on May Day picket

Baranavičy District Court heard yesterday an appeal filed by local trade union activist Ryhor Hryk, who challenged a ban on the May Day rally imposed by the local executive committee. As a result, Judge Mikalai Selimanovich found the activist’s claims groundless.

Ryhor Hryk tried to prove that he fulfilled all the requirements of the Law on Mass Events: submitted to the city executive committee a timely request to hold a rally in the permitted place, enclosed his personal commitment to clean the territory after the picket and created a group of three people for the protection of public order during the mass event. The activist also signed an agreement with the city polyclinic.

The head of the executive committee’s legal department told the court that the May Day rally was banned because the application did not say whether the participants of the picket would use cars and pyrotechnics.

Uladzimir Malei, Ryhor Hryk’s representative in court, argued that such information is not provided by in the Law "On mass events".

The activist intends to challenge the unfair decision in a higher court.