Supreme Court Upholds Non-registration of ?Young Front’

08.10.2007. Tags: Young Front, unregistered organizations, criminal persecution, discrimination.
Source: BelaPAN.

The Supreme Court has considered the appeal of the Young Front council against the refusal of the Ministry of Justice to register the organization because of alleged non-compliance of its charter with the legislation in the paragraphs concerning mass actions and participation of the Belarusian citizens who live abroad.

In her interview with the BelaPAN a Young Front representative Anastasiya Loyka stated that these pretensions were groundless. ‘In Minsk city court the representatives of the Ministry of Justice tried to prove that the paragraph about participation in mass actions meant participation in unauthorized actions. It is absurd,’ said she.

Anastasiya also pointed that at the trial the ministry representatives mentioned that criminal and administrative cases had been brought against the Young Front members. ‘We consider such evidence discriminative, because the criminal cases were brought for activity on behalf of unregistered organization,’ commented Loyka.

In its verdict the Supreme Court found legal the prior decision of Minsk city court explaining it by the fact that some of the Young Front founder had received criminal and administrative punishments. That’s why the college board of the Supreme Court thinks that they cannot be founders of a public association (NGO).

‘These people were punished for activity on behalf of unregistered organization (article 193.1 of the Criminal Code). Nevertheless, we are again deprived of registration, that’s where the criminal cases come from. It is a vicious circle,’ saod Anastasiya Loyka.