Officials provoke unsanctioned rallies

On May 25 a meeting of a pro-democracy activist Uladzimir Shyla with the head of the local district executive committee Alyaksandr Rymasheuski took place.

The visit of the activist had been caused by a number of ungrounded bans on holding pickets in the city, Vyasna human rights centre informs.

As said by Uladzimir Shyla, journalists of the local official TV company were present at the meeting as well. They filmed the meeting:

- A week ago I scheduled an appointment with the chairman of the executive committee in order to discuss absurd bans on holing pickets. Frankly speaking, I was surprised by the presence of state journalists in the office. I had an impression that I am the chairman of the executive committee, and Rymasheuski came to me and took TV journalists with him.

No miracle occurred during the conversation. The head of the district insisted that prohibitions to hold mass events were legal, and even promised that the next prickets would be banned “in accordance with European standards.” Attempts to prove that the actions of the executive committee are illogical, and that such steps trigger unsanctioned protest rallies, have been unsuccessful.

- I have passed the head of the district an application for a new picket, and warned that a new refusal is sure to cause an unsanctioned rally. But it is to happen not outside the city, in Stoitel stadium, but on the central square of the city, and officials would not be bale to control the situation, - Uladzimir Shyla said after the meeting.

The chairman of the executive committee threatened that sanctions from the relevant authorities would follow. The response to that was a remark that confronting “the street democracy”, the “relevant authorities” are weak.