English

Dissident doctor in Vitsyebsk sues local authorities over demonstration ban

Dissident doctor Ihar Pastnow has filed a lawsuit against the Kastrychnitski district administration in Vitsyebsk over the rejection of his application for permission to stage a one-man demonstration against police brutality.

In a fresh video clip posted to YouTube, Mr. Pastnow says that he seeks more than €3,000 in damages and promises to donate the money to an orphanage.

The doctor accuses the authorities of violating his rights and freedoms and describes the ban as unfair.
Mr. Pastnow also complains about health workers' too low pay in Vitsyebsk.

The district administration banned Mr. Pastnow from staging the demonstration earlier this month, explaining that he had not paid for the presence of an ambulance and police at the venue of the protest and a cleanup at the site after the event.

Mr. Pastnow, a pediatrician and psychiatrist by profession, was forcibly taken to the Vitsyebsk regional mental health hospital last August, after he posted a video appeal critical of authorities on the Internet. Days later, a court judge ordered the doctor placed in involuntary psychiatric care.

He was discharged from the hospital in September and was required to visit a psychiatrist regularly.

In 2012, Mr. Pastnow spoke out about severe underfunding for the Vitsyebsk region's health institutions and accused Alyaksandr Kosinets, head of the regional government, of wasting public funds. //BelaPAN