23.03.2010 Canvassing allowed near death care store in Mahiliou

Mahiliou city executive committee released a list of canvassing locations, with only one site available for public electoral events, making an unfortunate ‘misprint’ in the building’s address – the decision names 64 Chaliuskintsau (a 4-storied block of flats adjoined by the local death care service), instead of 64A Chaliuskintsau (traditional place of authorized street events in the Kuibyshev Artificial Fiber Factory Palace of Culture).

23.03.2010 No electoral competition in Homel region

According to preliminary data, there will be no competition in local council elections in Homel region, with 2,933 candidates to contest 2,898 seats in village constituencies, 156 candidates claiming 146 seats of town councils and the 30/30 ratio in urban constituencies.

23.03.2010 CEC sees no electoral violations in Hrodna

No violations were made during the formation of the divisional election commissions in Hrodna Leninski and Kastrychnitski districts, says Lidzia Yarmoshyna, chair of the Central Election Commission in her official reply to a complaint by local human rights activist Raman Yurhel, after the local state-owned newspaper Hrodzenskaya prauda published information on the composition of the commissions 8 days after the respective decisions were taken.

23.03.2010 Viasna and BHC’s statement on execution of Zhuk and Yuzepchuk

Administration of pre-trial prison № 1 refused to take food, brought for Andrey Zhuk by his mother, and informed her, that death sentences, passed on her son and Vasilij Uzepchuk in summer, 2009, were carried out.

The authorities cynically ignored the demands of the Belarusian human rights defenders and The UN Human Rights Committee not to execute the condemned, while their appeals were considered in the Committee.

23.03.2010 Belarus carries out two executions

Amnesty International is calling on the President of Belarus Alyaksandr Lukashenka to establish an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty after it was revealed two men were executed at the end of last week.

22.03.2010 Election campaign: past week in facts and figures

The beginning of the week coincided with the last day of nomination of candidates for deputies of local councils of various levels. Official figures on the number of persons who applied to the territorial and constituency election commissions for registration of their candidacies were made public. Lidzia Yarmoshyna publicly named the scanty rate of nominees from the political parties as the results of the ‘advantages’ given to the parties by the amended electoral law. Against the background of statements by the CEC head on enhancing competition among candidates for deputy seats, the representatives of pro-democratic forces began counting uncontested constituencies in the country.

22.03.2010 Vitsebsk region: canvassing opportunities restricted

Analysts say canvassing opportunities in Vitsebsk region are considerably restricted after local state-owned mass media published official decisions by executive committees of different levels.

22.03.2010 Baranavichy Prosecutor sees no visible legal violations in election campaign

Baranavichy independent observer Siarhei Housha received a reply to his appeal lodged with the town’s prosecutor’s office, claiming that the complaint was ‘groundless’. The claim was filed after local state-owned newspaper ‘Nash Krai’ failed to meet the provisions of the Electoral Code and publish the list of divisional electoral commissions members in due time.

22.03.2010 Rechytsa divisional election commission demands illegal papers

Rechytsa divisional election commission demands Andrei Stryzhak, running in local constituency #49, to provide documents that are not required by the law. The Commission required that the candidate provided unemployment certificate, after Mr. Stryzhak stated that he was temporarily unemployed in his registration application.

22.03.2010 Supreme Court rules in favour of Ministry of Justice

The Supreme Court of Belarus dismissed the claim by the ‘Razam’ independent trade union against the Ministry of Justice, which refused the Union state registration, Radio Racyja reports quoting the organization’s chair Iryna Yaskevich. In her verdict, Judge Larysa Filimanikhina claimed that one of the claimants Mikalai Kaniukh had been illegally elected and therefore had no legal authority to sign the claim.

22.03.2010 Number of voters in Svetlahorsk district deviates from norm

In eight constituencies of Svetlahorsk district the quantity of voters diverges from the norm provided by the Electoral Code. Article 15 of the Code states that constituencies are formed by equal amounts of voters, with 10% of admissible deviation.

19.03.2010 US condemns repressions against journalists in Belarus – sanctions remain

The US sanctions on the Belarusian regime will remain in force while human rights are violated in Belarus.

Karen Stewart, a former US Ambassador to Belarus, now an aide to Assistant Secretary of State Michael H. Posner, told this in an interview to Radio Svaboda.

19.03.2010 Gagged statues in Minsk – we all deprived of voice

European Belarus activists held an action in Minsk against an attack on independent journalists.

The young people protesting against pressure on independent journalists gagged statues and hung posters “Telling Truth is Forbidden in Belarus”, “No to Pressure on Independent Press!”, “I don’t Want Independent Websites to be Closed”, the website of European Belarus campaign reports.

19.03.2010 Limited canvassing opportunities for Vitsebsk candidates

Vitsebsk candidates still cannot maintain efficient canvassing activities, since no official decisions on canvassing locations in a number of the city’s districts have been announced yet. The authorities’ inaction may result in conflicts between representative of various campaign teams, say local human rights activists.

19.03.2010 Senator Smirnov: Belarus may abolish death penalty

Yevgeny Smirnov, Chairman of the Legislation and State Development Commission of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, does not rule a possibility that the capital punishment will be eventually abolished in Belarus. The senator made this statement as he addressed the chairmen of regional and municipal courts at the Council of the Republic on 18 March, BelTA has learnt.