Court disallowed oppositionists’ claim to city executive committee: Peaceful rallies banned as before

Arkadzy Kaluhin, judge of the Central Court of Homel, disallowed claims of Homel politicians Uladzimir Katsora and Uladzimir Syakerka to city executive committee which banned a meeting dedicated to Chernobyl nuclear power station catastrophe.

A representative of the city exexcutiv ecommittee in the court Palina Labanava explained that the city executive committee refused to authorize the meeting as applicants allegedly failed to provide information about the order of its holding, and failed to sign a contract with police, a hospital and services for their work at the mass event, Radio Svaboda infroms.

Judge Kaluhin in fact held the same opinion.

“The ruling of the judge was unsurprising from the point of view of how the authorities behave. Over the last 5 years none of the mass rallies was sanctioned. Apparently it is absolutely impossible to hold a mass event legally today,” Uladzimir Katsora said.

In recent years the city executive committee disallowed more than a hundred applications for holding rallies.