Mazyr: Election Commission Annuls Registration to Candidate Uladzimir Tseliapun

In Mazyr constituency election commission #43 deprived of registration a candidate to the regional deputy soviet, public activist Uladzimir Tseliapun. Mr. Tseliapun was accused of ‘production and distribution of materials that foment social enmity’ because his initiative group distributed fly-sheets with invitation to a meeting with the electorate that was to have taken place at 3.p.m. on 7 January in the Culture Palace of Oil Processing Plant. The meeting was to be attended by his proxies including Aliaksandr Milinkevich. According to Mr. Tseliapun Mazyr the authorities annulled his registration because they feared that the oil-gas crisis in relations with Russia would be discussed at the meeting as well as non-payment of share percents by Oil Processing Plant. The public activist and human rights activist Uladzimir Tseliapun disagrees with the registration annulment and has already directed a complaint to the regional election commission. It’s also worth mentioning that he had filed several complaints about violations of the election laws committed during determination of the constituency borders and specifying the places for agitation posters.

The registration annulment also means prohibition of the meeting. However, Mr. Tseliapun came to the culture palace in order to explain the electors who weren’t informed about the prohibition. About 200 people gathered there. The police told the people to disperse and threatened to consider it as unauthorized meeting otherwise and Uladzimir Tseliapun – as its organizer. The meeting was also attended by Aliaksandr Milinkevich.

‘People want to know the truth about what is going on in the country. TV tells lies!’ Mr. Milinkevich commented. ‘People want a normal friendly talk and they are being deprived of it. Increasingly more people understand that the government is not a government if it cannot debate, come and tell the truth.’