Belarusian opposition wants to celebrate Freedom Day in special location

The opposition has filed an application to hold a rally-concert on the 102nd anniversary of the proclamation of the BNR, the head of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hromada), Ihar Barysau, has reported.

According to Barysau, the application was sent to Minsk city executive committee by mail on Friday, February 7. The applicants were the BSDP, the movement For Freedom and the Belarusian Green party.

The application was filed on March 22 (Sunday), as the Freedom Day on March 25 is a working day — Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, I can’t name the venue. But this is one of the party places in Minsk, very popular among young people,” said the politician.

Barysau added that the opposition had never held rallies on this site before.

“But in the past there had been other events, festivals, there was a stage. So, I believe that if others were allowed, we can also apply for this place,” said the politician.

The leader of the BSDP stressed that they do not mean the platforms where mass actions can be held on the basis of the application principle.

The opposition is not naming the venue of the concert rally in order not to give Minsk City Executive Committee a formal reason to refuse to hold the event.

The application states that up to ten thousand people will take part in the concert rally on the Freedom Day 2020. The organizers are also asking Minsk City Executive Committee to exempt them from paying for police, utilities and ambulance services.

Ihar Barysau noted that earlier the opposition had sent a letter to Minsk City Executive Committee with a request to include the celebration of the Freedom Day in the plan of city events.

“We asked to consider the option of three sites: one near the Town Hall, another near the Sports Palace and the third one near the Opera House. Unfortunately, they did not include the Freedom Day in the city’s plan of events and stated that these three sites are unacceptable to the city authorities,” said the BSDP leader.

The organizing committee of the Freedom Day 2020 includes the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada), the United Civil Party, the BCD, the movement For Freedom and the Green party. The organizing committee at the site molamola.by began raising funds for a rally-concert for the Freedom Day 2020. To date, 1,525 BYN have been raised.

belsat.eu

News