BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

23/04/2007

Belarusian Opposition To Mark Chornobyl Annivesary With March In Minsk

The Minsk City Executive Committee has given permission for the opposition to stage a march in Minsk on April 26 to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the explosion at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, but changed its route, Belapan reported on March 20. The organizing committee for the "Chornobyl Way" march wanted it to start on Yakub Kolas Square at 6 p.m. and run on sidewalks along Independence Avenue to the square in front of the National Library, where a rally would begin at 8 p.m. The city authorities said the march should start on the square in front of the National Academy of Sciences and run on sidewalks along Surhanava Street to Peoples' Friendship Park on Bangalore Square, where a rally would be held between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. "We said that we could not accept this decision of the Minsk City Executive Committee, which was made in violation of regulations, as the venue of the march was changed without the organizers' knowledge. We are considering the expediency of appealing this decision to court and will discuss the route of the march," Alyaksey Yanukevich, one of the march's organizers, told the agency. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/04/3-CEE/cee-230407.asp