Baranavichy: entrepreneur Charnavus appeals against non-registration of his candidacy

On 2 April entrepreneur Mikalai Charnavus lodged with the Brest regional court a complaint against his non-registration as a candidate for the Baranavichy city Council of Deputies, expressing disagreement with the ruling of the Brest regional election commission that left standing the ruling of the Baranavichy city election commission concerning the registration denial.

In his complaint Mr. Charnavus asserts that he has gathered enough evidence of abuses of certain members of the election commission during the verification of his signature sheets. In particular, he attached to the complaint five statements about negligent work of the election commission.

Mr. Charnavus also disagrees with the conclusion of the Baranavichy city election commission that his income declaration contains inaccuracies. As it is stated by the commission, the certificate from the tax inspection that was considered at the sitting of the election commission on 25 March contains the sum of the yearly receipts, not income. Mikalai Charnavus states that the tax inspection didn’t issue to him the income certificate referring to ruling of the Council of Ministers of #1399 of 25 October 2007, according to which such documents are not provided to the individual entrepreneurs who pay single tax.

Mikalai Charnavus asks the regional court to find unlawful and reverse the decisions of the Baranavichy city election commission and the Brest regional election commission of 25 March and 1 April.

He also asks the court to summon to the trial the tax inspector, the electors whose signatures were found invalid by the election commission, as well as the members of the commission who checked the signatures and appoint a graphologic expertise of the signatures in question.

Similar claims were lodged by Ryhor Hryk and Viktar Tsiapin, whose candidacies weren't registered either.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections