Shklou authorities ban round table discussion

The authorities of Shklou said a round table discussion was a “mass event”.

Members of Shklou Magistrate civil initiative and the Mahilou regional department of Frantsishak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society sent the Shklou district executive committee a letter, proposing to have a joint round table discussion about the role of the local self-governance and the history of the Magdeburg Law in the Shklou district. The district executive committee answered that the organisations should file an application in accordance with the law on mass events and the committee will consider it and make its decision, Viasna human rights centre reports.

According to the independent newspaper Shklou-Info (issue No.9, May 201%), the proposal on the joint discussion was sent to the Shklou authorities by Ayaraslau Klimuts, the head of the Mahilou regional department of Frantsishak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society. The answer was signed by chairman of the Shklou district executive committee Aliaksandr Baiko. The committee head wrote: “In reply to your request regarding the round table discussion 'Magdeburg traditions in Mahilou region' in Shklou on April 18, 2015, the Shklou district executive committee informs in accordance with article 5 of the Law of the Republic of Belarus on Mass Events that you haven't fulfilled requirements for the application: in particular, you don't point out the place of the discussion, the source of financing of the event, the patronymic name, date of birth and citizenship of the organiser. In view of the above, you need to file an application to the Shklou district executive committee in compliance with the abovementioned Law. The application will be considered and a decision will be made.”

Local activists expected the district authorities to make a step forward and propose to hold the event in the Shklou city hall or the local history museum, Shklou-Info writes. But they received only a letter with a refusal.

As a result, the discussion on Magdeburg traditions and local self-governance in the Mahilou region was held in a private building with participation of guests from Mahilou, Minsk and France.

It remains unclear why the Shklou authorities were against the non-political discussion.