Activists of the Gomel regional representative office of the Belarusian Radio and Electronic Workers' Union (REP) lodged complaints to the Tsentralny District Court of Gomel against local authorities' ban of their intended pickets on the International Children's Day – June 1.

"The Gomel City Executive Committee will have to prove at court the legitimacy of their restrictions of our right to the freedom of peaceful assemblies and the freedom of expressing one's opinion," Leonid Sudalenko, the legal inspector of the REP Trade Union, made comments on activists' plans to the website www.praca-by.info.

The union members challenge not only the ban of the Executive Committee imposed on their actions. They believe that setting up a unique place in the regional capital for holding mass actions and imposing the duties on organizers of peaceful assemblies to pay for the services of militia, medical aid and communal services of the city are illegal. They ask the court to recognize this fact.

"With account of the fact that peaceful assemblies of citizens are one of the pillars of real democracy; and defence of the freedom of assembly is a must for building tolerant society, where groups with various beliefs, behaviour norms or principles should peacefully coexist, we assert that the decisions of the Gomel Executive Committee are inadmissible restrictions of our rights to the freedom of expression of one's opinion and to hold mass actions in the sense of Articles 23, 33 and 35 of the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus and Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights," the complaints of the activists of the REP Trade Union run.

"We also note in our applications that until now Belarus has made no announcements, as prescribed by the above Covenant, that the country is in the state of emergency, and, consequently, suspends certain rights stipulated by the Covenant," Mr Sudalenko has explained.

Let us remind you that Gomel trade-union activists had submitted 24 applications on holding pickets on the International Children's Day marked on June 1. They wanted to express their protest against cancellation by the President of Belarus in 2007 of privileges for pupils, students and children under three. The authorities banned all the pickets. Nevertheless, activists managed to disseminate information calling to struggle for return of the privileges.

"The authorities rejected all our applications. The pretext was the same: if you wish to defend children's rights – you are welcome to the city outskirts and don't forget to make advance payments to the militia, medical first-aid and sanitary city cleaners," lawyer Leonid Sudalenko has summed up.