Hundreds of flyers containing information about the United Democratic Forces' Anti-crisis Platform and copies of the newspaper Tovarishch and were passed out by opposition activists on Brest streets on September 30.
More than 20 people took part in the distribution of the printed material, including Mikalay Kowsh, Ihar Maslowski and Leanid Maystruk, who head the regional organizations of the United Civic Party, the Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Hramada" and the Belarusian Party of Communists, respectively.
Local opposition activists initially planned to set up 52 pickets in the city on September 30 in protest against the deterioration of living standards in the Brest region.
After the city government had denied permission for all the pickets, a decision was made to distribute copies of the Anti-crisis Platform at busy places in Brest, he said. "We passed out the material at bus stops, markets and on Savetskaya Street," Mr. Maslowski said.
No arrests were made.
"Passers-by readily took our flyers," he said. "This proves that people are concerned with the current economic situation and the rising prices of goods and services."
Activists of the United Democratic Forces filed applications for permission to put up 450 pickets in 50 cities throughout Belarus on September 30 to promote the Anti-Crisis program. Only two pickets, one in Mahilyow and one in Polatsk, were permitted to be put up. At least four people, including the opposition coalition's Co-chairmen Anatol Lyabedzka and Syarhey Kalyakin, were briefly detained in Minsk over the distribution of flyers.
The Anti-crisis Platform consists of three sections. The first section assesses the current economic situation in the country. The second one proposes high-priority measures to be carried out within three months and the final section deals with the guidelines of a new economic policy for a period of between three and five years. The platform prioritizes the balanced development of the economy and calls on the government to speed up the introduction of information technologies in the economic management system.
