Homel: State Radio Fails to Broadcast BPF Party Candidate's Speech

Source: www.baj.ru

Homel State radio station didn’t broadcast a speech presented by Mr. Uladzimir Shytsikau, a candidate to Homel city deputy soviet from the Christian Conservative BPF Party. The speech presentation was appointed on 28 December.

The city radio news broadcasting was suddenly interrupted by music and advertisements for almost 20 minutes at 12 a.m. on 28 December. The candidate’s speech was to be presented exactly then. The failure was explained by a “technical error”.

Uladzimir Shytsikau’s speech as a candidate was recorded at Homel radio station studio the day before – on 27 December.

Homel city election commission summoned Mr. Shytsikau the same day and informed him that he had violated 3 articles of the Belarusian Election Code (##47, 49 and 75) at once.

’During the recording I said that people shouldn’t support the present regime that roughly breaks human rights, annihilates the Belarusian language and rigs elections. I believe the election committee must have disliked the words,’ - Mr. Shytsikau told in his interview to a BAJ Monitoring Service officer.

It is not mentioned in Homel election committee’s decision, what exact words or expressions in the speech, presented by Mr. Shytsikau, break the Election Code. Also, there has been taken no final decision that it is prohibited to broadcast the speech. However, it has never been put on the air.

The BAJ Monitoring Service