BCD sumbitted the application for legal registration
Leaders of the organising committee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party (BCD) submitted the application for legal registrationtogether with all required documents to the Ministry of Justice of Belarus on 13 July 2015.
The submitted list of party founders contains data and signatures of 1,015 citizens of Belarus. The needed number of founders of a political party under current Belarusian legislation is 1,000. The data requested by the law contains among other points full home address with a land line telephone number and the name of the employer of employed persons with an address and telephone number.
“The rule to give information about someone’s the workplace is absolutely absurd, illegal and repressive. It aims to create pressure on founders to prevent the emergence of democratic parties and organisations, “- said BCD co-chair Vital Rymasheuski.
The Ministry of Justice has thirty days for studying the documents and making the decision about registration of BCD. During previous four attempts to gain legal registration the BCD founders received threats to be fired from their jobs or excluded from universities (dozens of them indeed had to leave jobs and universities); in 2011 there were also threats of physical assault on some of the founders.
The absence of the legal status means that the BCD cannot participate in elections campaigns on equal conditions with other political parties, but its candidates need to collect signatures of citizens in order to be nominated. Though, acting on behalf of an unregistered organisation is a crime in Belarus, which can be punished by three years of prison according to the article 193.1 of the Criminal Code
The BCD is asking all its partners to be alert of the registration process and show solidarity with Christian Democrats and the whole of democratic community in Belarus.
The fifth registration congress of the BCD took place in Minsk on 13 June 2015.
