Street rally planned in Minsk on Commemoration of the Dead day

The Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian Popular Front has said it plans to stage a rally action in Minsk on Sunday, 28 October. It is a traditional event organized annually to commemorate the dead or Dzyady (Anscestors), including the victims of Stalinism repressions in the late 1930s. The party has submitted an application for a permit with the city authorities, Radio Liberty reports. The CCP BPF hopes to organize a manifestation via the usual route from the Academy of Sciences and end it with a rally  near the people’s memorial in Kurapaty, a Minsk suburb.

Kurapaty is the mass burial site of the victims of Stalin’s repressions. A people’s memorial was created there with the help of CCP BPF (and its leader Zyanon Paznyak). The authorities are planning to install a memory sign in the Kurapaty Tract. Activists have protested against a restaurant and an entertainment complex built near by in violation of the memorial protection laws.