Supreme Court Begins Liquidation of Belarusian Labor Party

02.08.2004.

According to RFE/RL

The Ministry of Justice has already filed the suit for liquidation of Belarusian Labor Party to the Supreme Court. The party is charged with many violations of the Civil Code and its own statute.

The representative the ministry Aliaksandr Kharyton spent almost four hours explaining to the court all faults of the party and the reasons for its liquidation. According to him, the party hadn’t any juridical address for a long time. It held its last assembly with gross law violations and it was found illegal by the ministry, it presented imprecise information about its members and untimely registered its regional structures in Navahradak, Hrodna and Vitsebsk and Minsk district structure as well.

Besides, Aliaksandr Kharyton charged the party with participation in the coalition “5+”, law violations connected with the issues of the “Rabochaya Salidarnasts” newspaper and allegedly illegal cooperation with trade unions. He repeatedly emphasized that the Ministry of Justice spent much time trying to help the party in correcting committed violations of the law, but the party insistently refused from this help, as a result of which the only way left to the ministry was to ask the Supreme Court to liquidate it.

The leader of Belarusian Labor Party Aliaksandr Bujhvostaw confessed that there were some minor violations of the law, which were timely corrected. He is sure of the political motivation for this liquidation:

-- We have information that Mr. Kozik wrote a memo for Lukashenka, where he mentioned the newspaper “Rabochaya Salidarnasts”, founded by Belarusian Labor Party and stated that it distributed anti-presidential agitation, etc. He came to Lukashenka with this memo. Lukashenka wrote: “I agree” and ordered Latypov to discriminate and take appropriate measures. And the order was executed. What is going on now witnesses that they try on us new ways to assault the rights of parties.