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Homyel authorities ban two opposition demonstrations

 

The Homyel city authorities have denied permission for two opposition demonstrations.

Earlier this week, the city chapter of the “Spravedlivy Mir” (Just World) Belarusian Party of the Left (BPL) was banned from staging a demonstration on August 6 in the square in front of a remote concert hall, the city’s only venue designated for mass events. BPL activists had planned to use the demonstration to promote the opposition party’s platform and distribute leaflets. The authorities said that the venue would host rehearsals by folk dance troupes and choirs on that day.

“We have fulfilled all of the requirements but have still been denied permission for demonstrating,” BPL activist Uladzimir Syakerka told BelaPAN. “The government, which should guarantee the exercise of citizens’ rights, in fact creates artificial obstacles to that. The officials could have offered us a different time or venue.”

A demonstration that a group of opposition politicians and human rights activists planned to stage on the pedestrian section of Savetskaya Street on August 4 to mark two years since the arrest of rights defender Ales Byalyatski has also been banned. The city authorities have explained that mass events may not take place at the venue.

The last opposition demonstration sanctioned by the city authorities took place in Homyel in 2004. //BelaPAN