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Opposition activists campaigning for freedom of assembly apply for permission to hold 500 meetings in Minsk

Opposition activists campaigning for freedom of assembly and other civil rights have filed 500 applications with the Minsk City Executive Committee for permission to hold informal meetings that theoretically require official authorization.

"We want to draw public attention to the fact that local authorities frequently violate freedom of assembly, which is especially important during presidential elections," Mikita Krasnow, a coordinator of the campaign, called “Hramadzyanin” (Citizen), told BelaPAN.

By filing 500 applications, Hramadzyanin activists aimed to expose the absurdity of the Mass Events Law, which requires government permission for any meeting, Mr. Krasnow said.

The applications are for permission to hold meetings of, among others, lovers of bananas, lovers of tight T-shirts, lovers of ear tunnels and so on, Mr. Krasnow said. "Regulations require the Minsk city government to give a written reply to every application within 10 days," he said. "You wanted bureaucracy? We'll give you bureaucracy."

“Our applications were written properly and we’ll press for being given a substantiated reply to each of them,” said another campaign coordinator, Vyachaslaw Dziyanaw.