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Small business activists call on EU to give legal assessment to crackdown on Belarusian sole entrepreneurs

Small business activists have urged the European Union to give legal assessment to Belarus' conditions for the operation of sole entrepreneurs.

They sent a similar appeal to the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) following an unsanctioned protest that was held in Minsk on Monday against Alyaksandr Lukashenka's crackdown on sole entrepreneurs.

"The economy in Belarus is regulated with command-and-control measures in the interests of the ruling clan and businesses close to it," the appeal reads. "By his edicts and decrees, Lukashenka has created and is maintaining unfair conditions for state organizations and private businesses. Sole entrepreneurs are facing a particular discrimination."

The appeal mentions arrests following demonstrations, the use of a license suspension warning as a tool of pressure, the requirement for sole entrepreneurs to pay social security contributions and the ban on the employment by them of workers other than three family members.

"The UN Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power should be applied to the illegal court orders and edicts that violate the citizens' rights and run counter to the constitution and international law," the appeal reads. "We call on the international community to take emergency measures to tackle the victimization -- the process of turning citizens into victims of the regime."

One of the authors, Ihar Lednik, told BelaPAN that the UN declaration regarded as victims any person facing "serious discrimination" and called for international cooperation in investigating incidences of such discrimination.

He said that small business activists might even appeal to the European Court of Human Rights for assistance.