Justice Ministry denies registration to Belarusian Christian Democracy party for fifth time

20.08.201510:26

It is the fifth time the Belarusian Ministry of Justice has refused to register the Belarusian Christian Democracy party (BCD).

It is to be recalled that some BCD founders were summoned to Klichau district executive committee and Verkhnyadzvinsk district prosecutor’s office where they were requested to call off their signatures.

According to the Ministry of Justice, four persons named as founders of the party informed on the phone or in written they hadn’t taken part in founding congresses and hadn’t proposed delegates for the congress, and two persons said they hadn’t put their signatures.

Other reasons mentioned in the official reply of the Ministry of Justice are minor errors that cannot be reasons for the refusal to register a political party. Apart from the persons nemad by the Ministry, the number of BCD founders exceeds the necessary 1,000. Furthermore, the Ministry had no claims to to the documents presented by the organizing committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party.

The BCD party has been denied registration for the fifth time. Taking into account the refusals to register Christian Democrats public associations, the number has reached 19.

“It shows that Belarus doesn’t have any fundamental democratic norms. The ‘election’ is only a smokescreen that cover authoritarianism and lawlessness in all areas of life – political, economic and social,” the BCD organising committee says.

Belarusian Christian Democrats say the denial of registration is illegal and are going to file a protest to the Supreme Court. At the same time, they stress that there are no free and independent courts in Belarus.