“A lot of international associations came to Vilnius to participate in the Congress, so we decided to organize our event today. Our purpose was to inform people about the problem of criminal liability for the activities of NGOs in Belarus, as Article 193.1 is a major obstacle to the development of the public sector”,—said Alona Valyniec, campaign’s “Stop 193.1!” coordinator.
24 representatives of international organizations and Embassies attended the Assembly’s side-event.
Among the speakers from the Belarusian side were the Chairman of the Working Group of the Assembly of NGOs Siarhiej Mackievic, Head of the Executive Bureau of the Assembly Alona Valyniec, lawyer Yury Chavusau, Director of Legal Transformation Center Olga Smolianko and a human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich.
Chairman of the Working Group of the Assembly of NGOs Siarhiej Mackievic made a presentation “Panorama of Belarusian Civil Society.” In his speech Mr. Mackievic talked about the state of the Belarusian civic sector and the legal basis of its activities, about the number of civic organizations and their main problems.
Alona Valyniec explained the idea and the content of the Assembly’s campaign “Stop 193.1!” Mrs. Valyniec also mentioned future plans of the campaign, as well as the importance of international participation in this initiative. In addition, the event participants were shown thematic multimedia products.
Lawyer Yury Chavusau dwelled on political and legal aspects of CC Article 193.1 implementation. He told about the practice of using Art. 193.1 (those regarding Partnership and Young Front).
Olga Smolianko suggested the legal analysis of Art.193.1 and talked about its compliance with international legal documents and to the generally accepted standards of freedom of association, such as Universal Declaration, the Council of Europe standards, etc.
Human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich summarized the practice of Article 193.1 implementation. He presented the statistical numbers of convicted activists, criminal cases and warnings issued under this article, analyzed their dynamics. Apart from that, Mr. Stefanovich dwelled on existing problems and difficulties regarding registration of public associations and political parties.
Concluding the event, organizers encouraged the participants to join the Assembly’s “Stop 193.1!” campaign.
