Kharkiv court bans demonstrations in support of the Ukrainian language

The Kharkiv Regional District Court of Appeal has prohibited two groups from holding protest actions in defence of the Ukrainian language on 5 June. The information and copy of the court ruling came from one of the organizers, Dmytro Pylypets.

He says that the notification from himself and from Youth Prosvita was submitted on 1 June, and that a commission called by the City Council had tried to get them to give up the idea.  When nobody did, they applied to the court for a ban.

There were two court rulings on the same day with the same result. The difference, Mr Pylypets says, is that Youth Prosvita was not even notified about the court hearing.

He explains that the bans were “justified” on the grounds that the slogans at the protest could “justifiably offend … citizens with underage children”.  And through the supposition, he says, that “on the second largest square in Europe 50 people would obstruct the passage of people at rest (on a working day”).