Entrepreneurs are determined to act
- 5.12.2007, 16:53
In the run-up to the meeting of entrepreneurs the authorities are trying to intimidate organizers of the protest with the help of the tax police and department for economic crimes. Representatives of those agencies have arrived to the construction materials market of Zhdanovichi shopping center to a showroom of one of the applicants for the rally, the head of Minsk coordinating council of individual entrepreneurs Alyaksandr Makaeu.
As the Charter’97 press-center has been informed by Alyaksandr Makaeu, representatives of the economic crime department in contravention of the law in force came for an inspection without a necessary court order. He also noted that on November 19 finished the previous inspection by economic crimes department finished. “Such actions cannot be called anything but clampdown of the controlling authorities in the run-up to our protest rally. But an entrepreneur cannot be intimidated by a tax inspection today. In any case, we shall rally on Kastrychnitskaya Square on December 10,” one of the leaders of the entrepreneurs’ movement emphasized.
As for today’s inspection, he says that all his documents are in order; he is not violating any laws, that is why he has nothing to fear. Moreover, an audit had taken place not long ago. “And with our laws they always have a possibility to find faults with something, but still we have been working so far,” Alyaksandr Makaeu said. He expressed the hope that he would be invited for a meeting in Minsk City Executive Committee.
The fact is that on December 5 at 3 p.m. applicants for the rally were invited to Minsk city executive committee. “Earlier we received a standard runaround from Minsk city executive committee with a proposal to gather on Bangalore Square, but we answered with a categorical no, so the executive committee wants to have a “conversation” with us about a possible outcome of that. But I do not know with whom we are going to have a “conversation”. I am checked, Alyaksandr Talstyka is imprisoned, other applicants are from regions and they are unlikely to come. Only Viktar Kalej remains, and we are going to go for the conversation with him,” Alyaksandr Makaeu said to the Charter’97 press-center.
“The rally in Minsk is to become the climax of the protest over the recent 10 years of the confrontation between entrepreneurs and the state. We have disseminated more than 30,000 leaflets at all markets of the capital, regional capitals and large cities. There are no entrepreneurs who could be uninformed about our desires and the way we want to act,” Alyaksandr Makaeu stated.
As we have informed, on December 10 a meeting of entrepreneurs will take place on October Square in Minsk. Among the main demands of the businessmen are to reverse the discriminatory decree No. 760 of December 29, 2006, to stop criminal prosecution of entrepreneurs for expression of their opinion, and fulfillment of the 12 recommendations of the EU by the government. The recommendations include respect for human rights of Belarusian citizens for a fair trial and entrepreneur activities without overly interference from the state.