The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

Yaraslau Bernikovich, a civil activist from the town of Hlybokaye, applied for authorization of the action in the first half of July. He intends to hold the picket on 3 September near the House of Culture.

Hlybokaye journalist Kastus Shytal was detained by local police after a publication on www.westki.info on an incident on 25 August, when the local district executive committee building was smeared with paint, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

Dzmitry Lupach, editor of the Hlybokaye advertisement newspaper Prefect-info, was summonsed to the police. The writ was passed to him at the central square of the town on 13 July, during a silent protest action.

The trial on the case of Kastys Shytal, a civil activist from the town of Hlybokaye, journalist for westki.info, lasted for 5 minutes. Judge of the Hlybokaye District Court Iryna Kazak ruled to drop the case due to the expiry of the terms for administrative punishment.

In Hlybokaye, the initiative group of Zmitser Lupach, representative of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party, actively collects signatures for nomination of his candidacy to the Hlybokaye city Soviet of Deputies. Meanwhile, the local military enlistment office sent him a writ to arrive to the military trainings that would be held in the town of Baravukha on 5-30 April.

Hlybokaye district executive committee refused to authorize the pickets in defense of a non-state newspaper Volnaye Hlybokaye at the town market, where the newspaper is distributed.

Local authorities of Hlybokaye organized a provocation against BPF candidate Yaraslau Bernikovich. Probably, they knew they could not rely only on the administrative resource.

In the afternoon of September 26th a group of drunken men looking homeless were hanging around Hlybokaye. They spread the leaflets in support of Yaraslau Bernikovich. According to Yaraslau, probably the provocation is connected to the fact that a Swedish TV crew arrived that day in town to cover the election campaign. However, Bernikovich does not exclude that the picture with false campaigners was prepared for the Belarusian TV which would later “show the real face of an oppositionist” to the Belarusian citizens.

Article 77 of the Election Code demands: candidates to the Chamber of Representatives are to be dispensed from their official duties from the day of registration to the Election Day without keeping their salary.

However, Uladzimir Andreichanka, candidate in Hlybokaye district # 22, seems to ignore the Election Code.