Vitebsk officials ban picket in toilet

Human rights defender Pavel Levinau received another absurd reply from the authorities of Vitebsk's Chyhunachny district.

He told it to charter97.org.

Human rights defender Pavel Levinau applied for holding a pubic meeting in a public toilet in Vitebsk two weeks ago. He says he applies for events, a ban on which would look funny and ridiculous. In summer, he filed an application for holding a meeting in a public sauna and got a refusal, just as he expected.

He thinks people laugh at the city authorities and they should finally show their reaction. He says this is the only thing he can do, because the serious steps to change the authorities' regulation “On organising mass events in Vitebsk” were not successful. Local activists filed numerous complaints to relative bodies, but received answers saying that the decision was analysed, included in the registry of legal acts and declared valid.