English

Some 50 rally in Minsk against controversial Internet edict

About 50 people gathered in Minsk's remote Bangalore Square on Thursday evening to take part in a sanctioned rally against a presidential edict, which opposition groups and independent experts feared would tighten the government’s control over the Internet, BelaPAN reports.

Although the application for permission to hold the rally was filed by Belarusian followers of Russia’s National Bolshevik Party (Nazbol), the event also drew representatives of an opposition youth group called Pravy Alyans, an Internet community called Rukh Buduchyni (Movement of the Future), and gay rights activists.

While speaking at the rally, Nazbol activist Yawhen Kontush described the edict as "monstrous."

People are no longer allowed into Internet cafes unless they produce their passports, Mr. Kontush said. "The websites that I normally visit may be closed," he said. "Meanwhile, watching Belarusian television to obtain information is actually dangerous because it is one-sided and biased."

Across the world, the Internet is associated with freedom, said Marat Abramowski, leader of Rukh Buduchyni, describing the web as the only platform for the civil society to discuss new ideas and get new information. The introduction of tight Internet restrictions would set Belarus back many decades, he warned.

"Any methods," including demonstrations, signature-collection campaigns or round-table discussions, are acceptable if they help prevent the edict's enactment, Mr. Kontush said. "This is what unites everybody, including oppositionists, government officials and common people," he noted. "I believe that opposition to Edict No. 60 is a problem that can unite all citizens of Belarus irrespective of their ideological views and preferences."

The rally is the first one in a series of protests that will be staged in the country against the edict, Mr. Kontush said. The next one is scheduled to take place in Minsk's Liberty Square on June 23, he said, adding that an application for permission to hold the rally had already been filed.

Uniformed police officers and plainclothesmen watched the rally, which began at 6 p.m. and lasted 40 minutes, but did not intervene.

Officially titled, "On Measures to Improve the Use of the National Segment of the Internet,” the edict takes effect on July 1.