The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for September 2012

22.09.2012 Another observer warned in Mahiliou

Valery Beraziyenka, leader of Fair World’s Mahiliou office working as an observer in constituency No. 45, was warned yesterday by election commission for alleged interference with the activities of election officials.

22.09.2012 Luninets candidate faces obstacles

In the last days of election campaigning, the executive authorities of the town of Luninets (Brest region) have prevented candidate Vital Karatysh (constituency No. 13) from having a number of meetings with voters at state-owned enterprises and organizations. Apart from that, his election posters have been stolen.

22.09.2012 Fair World observer ejected from polling station in Zhlobin

Mrs. Ilona Tkachova, election agent of candidate Valery Rybchanka, member of the Fair World party running in Zhlobin constituency No. 40, has been expelled from polling station No. 15.

22.09.2012 Human rights defender demands to cancel early vote results in polling station in Vitsebsk

Human rights defender Pavel Levinau has addressed the Central Election Commission with a complaint against polling station election commission No. 52.

22.09.2012 Colors of childhood for Ales Bialiatski

Ales Bialiatski often writes that he keeps receiving many postcards from various offices of Amnesty International, mainly from Great Britain and the Netherlands. One of his recent letters Ales told of motley fireworks of postcards from Dutch children, who painted his prison days in emotional colors.

22.09.2012 Swedish journalists denied Belarusian visas

Swedish journalists were denied Belarusian visas after arriving at Minsk-2 international airport last evening.

22.09.2012 Monitoring Report on Election Campaigning

The legal basis for this year’s election campaigning was the amended version of the Electoral Code, which extended campaigning opportunities as compared to the parliamentary elections in 2008; however, the use of the new standards was curtailed by the executive authorities, resulting in a large number of candidates from the opposition parties being unable to transmit their position to the voters.

22.09.2012 CEC: Prompts have no “legal significance”

“A mark in any box of a sample ballot paper has no legal significance,” says the Central Election Commission in its reply to a complaint by Maladechna observer Ales Kaputski.

22.09.2012 600 election boycott leaflets seized in Brest

Brest police detained last evening three activists of Brest-based pro-democratic coalition “Spadchyna” (“Heritage”), as they were distributing leaflets calling for a boycott of the elections.

21.09.2012 Ales Bialiatski’s defense lawyers exhaust all national judicial remedies

The Supreme Court has dismissed a supervisory appeal against a sentence to Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski pronounced by the Court of Pershamaiski District of Minsk on November 24, 2011, says Valiantsin Stefanovich, deputy chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, quoting a letter received from the prisoner.

21.09.2012 Ongoing harassment of Tatsiana Reviaka

The Belarusian tax authorities have joined a campaign of harassment of Tatsiana Reviaka, member of the Council of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” and President of the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile.

21.09.2012 Tell the Truth activist detained in Minsk

Aliaksei Mikulich, activist of the Tell the Truth civil campaign, was detained this afternoon, while distributing leaflets calling for a boycott of the lections in Minsk, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

21.09.2012 UCP observer ejected from polling station in Mahiliou

Yury Darashenka, observer representing the United Civil Party in Mahiliou, has been deprived of accreditation by head of polling station election commission No. 70 Vera Tsyrkunova.

21.09.2012 Investigation of libel case against journalist Andrzej Poczobut extended until October 21

The Hrodna regional office of the Investigative Committee of Belarus has prolonged its investigation of a libel case against journalist Andrzej Poczobut until October 21.

21.09.2012 Brest and Baranavichy students forced to vote early

Extremely high voters’ turnout has been reported by independent observers at the polling stations of Brest and Baranavichy. Most of the voters are students of local education institutions, Brest State Technical University and Baranavichy State University, say the observers.