Authorities can’t forget European March

The authorities have prepared a bill for the applicants for the European March, held in Minsk on 14 October, 2007. A trial on the claim of the enterprise “Gorremavtodor” against the applicants for the European March – Viktar Ivashkevich, Zmitser Khvedaruk, Yauhen Afnahel, Vintsuk Vyachorka, and Anatol Lyabedzka, is to be held on 25 February in the court of the Savetski district of Minsk.

The state enterprise appraised the street cleaning after holding the action at a sum of 2 135 000 Belarusian rubles and decided to recover damages against the organisers of the European March. Moreover, all defendants in the case can’t leave the country, according to the decree “On Simplified Rules of Entry the Republic of Belarus,” come into force since this January.

As human rights defenders think, by such actions the authorities violate the guaranteed by the Constitution right for assembly, which should be protected by the state.

“There is no such European country, where citizens pay to the state for the realisation of their constitutional rights. Guarantee of these rights realisation is duty of the authorities. This suit demonstrates again sneering attitude of the Belarusian authorities to the rights of their citizens and doesn’t meet with the international human rights standards,” human rights activist Valyantin Stefanovich emphasised.

The European March organisers disagree with the claims of the authorities and are going to contest them.

“The claims are very odd. Firstly, why didn’t they lodge them just after the European March? It’s absurd, that garbage and trampled grass were found on Banhalor Square after half a year. How many people have been there since that time? Secondly, we didn’t litter and trampled grass, because there was no meeting on Banhalor Square. I think, it’s traditional acts of the authorities: pressure over the organisers ahead of the action and demonstration of loyalty during the action. I’m sure, the pressure our politicians feel now can’t influence their activity on preparation for the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Belarusian National Republic on 25 March,” Viktar Ivashkevich, deputy head of the Belarusian Popular Front, said in the interview to the Charter’97 press center.

“According to the new law, if a suit on compensation for any “damage” is brought, defendants can’t leave the country. Now all of us can’t leave Belarus. It is evidently a moral pressure. I think, this suit won’t be the only one, there will be a number of claims from other institutions. This red-tape may last for several months. They probably want to boost the coffers with our help, because it is becoming empty very fast,” Zmitser Khvedaruk, one of the leaders of the Young Front, noted.

“The authorities denied all our proposals for organisation of the action and keeping peace during it. The final decision was postponed till 9 October, when only 2 working days remained before the European March. It is technically impossible to fulfil all the demands on holding of the action during this time. I was arrested on 8 October, just after the meeting in the Minsk city executive committee and discussion with the officials variants of holding the march, so claims against me are absolutely groundless, because I couldn’t influence the action. I think the authorities want to forbid the defendants leaving of the country. It’s clear that we can’t pay such a big fine,” Yauhen Afnahel, activist of the civil campaign “Jeans for Freedom!” said to the Charter’97 press center.