Ales Bialiatski: “In Three years More Than 150 Organization Closed” :: Charter'97 :: News

The bill “On Counteraction to Extremism” is adopted by the “chamber of representatives” in the first reading. The head of the human rights center “Viasna” head Ales Byalyatski comments on the law in his interview to Radio Svaboda:

“The draft law does not introduce anything new, and adds a little. That is why we should not be so alarmed at that. Everything that had been done by the authorities with the use of the current legislation against civil associations, parties and individuals, has been added to the new law. Another thing is that the wording is changing, and I would say, the labels which could be stuck on non-governmental organizations are changed. It shows greater nervousness, and to a certain extent a threat which seems to be observed by the authorities in the activities of some organizations and persons.

Activities of more than 150 organizations have been terminated with the help of the Justice Ministry. The same concerns political parties. The Law on Press contains all restrictive measures which are now included to the law “On Counteraction to Extremism”. But the word “extremism” is not mentioned there.

Now we are just arriving at another level of political vocabulary. The new law is playing a role of propaganda and ideological pressure”.