Oleksandr Daniliuk, head of the All-Ukrainian Center for Business Support and protest leader, said on Nov. 21 that police are preventing demonstrators from traveling to Kyiv to participate in a demonstration on Nov. 22.
"Bus drivers in Mykolaiv, Zhytomyr and other regions have been told to cancel trips to Kyiv," Daniliuk said.
Organizers of the grassroots movement of entrpreneurs and the owners of small and medium-sized businesses, identified in press releases as the Campaign to Save Ukrainian Entrepreneurship, have called on Ukrainians nationwide to gather in Kyiv on Nov. 22 to protest the adoption of the new Tax Code, which they say will make it impossible to make a living legally.
Protest organizers have asked demonstrators to assemble on Independence Square at 10:00 a.m. on Nov. 22. If President Viktor Yanukovych does not veto the new Tax Code by 18:00 p.m., the protest will move to the Presidential Administration on Bankova St..
Daniliuk on Nov. 21 said the police should stop meddling in the planned demonstrations.
"They should stop harassing small business owners trying to get to Kyiv and let them exercize their constitutional right to demonstrate. The interference of law-enforcement agencies may lead to unforeseen consequences," he said.
Article 39 of the Constitution of Ukraine clearly states:
“Citizens have the right to assemble peacefully without arms and to hold meetings, rallies, processions and demonstrations upon notifying in advance the executive authorities or local self governments.”
However, the second part of the Article 39 stipulates some restrictions on exercising the right for assembly. And those curbs “can be established by a court in accordance with the law and only in the interests of national security and public order, with the purpose of preventing disturbances and crimes, protecting the health of the population or protecting the rights and freedoms of other persons.”
