BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

20/03/2007

Minsk Authorities Ban Opposition Rally On October Square To Mark "Freedom Day"

The Minsk City Executive Committee has banned opposition forces from staging a demonstration on October Square on March 25, Belapan reported. On March 25, popularly called Freedom Day, the opposition was planning to mark the 89th anniversary of the short-lived 1918 Belarusian People's Republic, which was crushed by the Bolsheviks. One of the organizers of the Freedom Day rally, former opposition presidential candidate Alyaksandr Milinkevich, told Belapan that the authorities proposed that the opposition hold a rally on a square on the city's outskirts. "We'll discuss several scenarios, as people will anyway be gathering on October Square and everything will depend on the behavior of the police and authorities," Milinkevich said. "My personal opinion is that the decision [on the ban] is illegal and we cannot obey illegal decisions." JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/03/3-CEE/cee-200307.asp