Pickets on Independence square of Minsk banned

The Minsk city executive committee didn’t permit to hold a picket near a monument to Vladimir Lenin on Independence square on December 8.

An application for a picket, filed by activist of the “Young Front” Nasta Palazhanka, Alyaksei Yanusheuski and Nasta Loika, was not satisfied, website mfront.net reports.

The Minsk city executive committee denied it referring to article 9 of the Law on Mass Events, saying “holding of mass events is forbidden:

• Near metro objects;

• At distance less than 200 meters from buildings of president’s residence, the National Assembly, underground pedestrian subways, metro stations;

• At a distance less than 50 meters from buildings of republican bodies of state government, local representative, executive and administrative bodies, territories of organisations providing defensive power, state security and life-sustaining activity.”

It should be reminded that members of opposition Party of Communist of Belarus laid flowers to the monument to Lenin without hindrance on November 7, and members of the pro-governmental Communist Party of Belarus organised a small meeting near the monument.