Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

MINSK - The Belarusian opposition has denied sexual minorities participation in the opposition rally Charnobylski Shlyakh (The Path of Chornobyl), the informal gay and lesbian association said in a report issued on Thursday.

The initiators of the project GayBelarus asked opposition leaders to include the project's representatives in the Charnobylski Shlyakh organizational committee, saying that they will complain to international courts about discrimination against sexual minorities if their request is declined.

Nevertheless, the organizers of Charnobylski Shlyakh 2009 deemed it unacceptable to allow sexual minorities to participate in the procession.

"Representatives of the information gay association should file a request with the Minsk city executive committee to hold a separate rally," Viktor Ivashkevich, deputy chairman of the Belarusian opposition party Belarusian National Front, told reporters. "We shouldn't mix two totally different actions," he said.

In the meantime, members of the information association told Interfax that they would take part in Charnobylski Shlyakh anyway.

Charnobylski Shlyakh is a traditional annual action held by the Belarusian opposition to mark the anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster. It is conducted on April 26.