Another local authority bans public rallies

On 27 June the Uzhhorod City-District Court banned until the end of the summer (until 31 August this year) rallies outside the Transcarpathian Regional Administration.

The court allowed an application from the City Prosecutor Oleksandr Stratyuk who had asked to establish this restriction on the right to hold mass events in Uzhhorod. He referred in his application to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 28 July 1988 «On the procedure for the organization of meetings, political rallies, street events and demonstrations in the USSR»

It should be noted that this Decree has been consistently opposed by human rights groups over recent years. They consider that it runs counter to the Constitution of Ukraine, in particular, Article 39 which stipulates procedure for notifying the authorities on mass gatherings organized, and not procedure for seeking permission to hold them, and which does not contain limitations with regard to when notification must be given.

The Prosecutor apparently lodged the application with the court at the request of the management of the Transcarpathian Regional Administration who claim that a tent city on the square outside their building is disturbing their work.

The tent city was erected on 4 June by the “Astreya” Association of Pensioners which is protesting against the inaction of the law enforcement agencies.  The organization includes around 100 people from the area with various grievances against the law enforcement agencies (including land issues, failure to investigate the killing of a relative, and others). The picketers have been living in the tents.

Based on information from www.zik.com.ua