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Opposition Communists in Brest banned from addressing October Revolution rally

Members of the opposition Belarusian Party of Communists (BPC) were banned from addressing a rally held in Brest on the occasion of the October Revolution Day that is observed in the country on November 7, the anniversary of the 1917 Bolshevik coup in Russia.

The event was organized by the local authorities. Leanid Maystruk, first secretary at the BPC regional organization, told BelaPAN that it unexpectedly turned out that the organizers had not included BPC activists into the list of rally participants.

“We were politely asked not to approach the microphone,” he said. “It was for the first time in the last 10 years that I was not allowed to make a speech at such an event at which I wanted to speak about the rollback of democracy and the social achievements of the October Revolution. Meanwhile, the floor was given to representatives of the pro-government Party of Belarusian Communists. Such a selective approach to speech makers does not do credit to the organizers and shows once again that parties are divided into wanted and unwanted.”

Around 80 BPC activists attended the rally. Following it, they laid flowers and wreaths at a memorial to Bolshevik leader Lenin.