Supreme Court to consider closing down two parties in August

July 26, BPN. On August 9, Judge Anatol Cierach of the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a lawsuit to shut down the Social Democratic Party of Popular Accord.

Human rights defenders monitoring elections in Belarus describe the center-left social democrats as a pro-government party. It was registered in 1997.

Judge Siarhiej Mikałajeŭ will hear a similar lawsuit against the opposition Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) on August 14.

The party has been active since August 1993. Its leader Ryhor Kastusioŭ is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence and is widely regarded as a political prisoner.

In late 2022, Alaksandar Łukašenka called for disbanding parties whose activities run counter to “the basic principles of internal and foreign policy.”

On February 14, he signed a law requiring all parties to re-register based on more rigorous membership criteria. A week later, Justice Minister Siarhiej Chamienka said that the number of political parties in Belarus will drop from fifteen to three or four after the re-registration campaign.

The justice ministry has already re-registered the pro-government Communist Party of Belarus, the Liberal Democratic Party, the Republican Party of Labor and Justice and Biełaja Ruś uniting Łukašenka’s supporters.

Opposition parties refused to identify their members for fear of political reprisals. The justice ministry filed closure suits against the parties that failed to submit member lists.

On July 20, the Supreme Court closed down the opposition Conservative Christian Party, and four days later, the pro-governmental Belarusian Patriotic Party.