Mazyr: state printing house refused to publish agitation materials for opposition candidate

On 6 April S.Dyliuk, director of the Mazyr state printing house Color refused to publish the agitation materials of Uladzimir Tseliapun, candidate for the Homel regional Council of Deputies.

On 5 April Mr. Tseliapun paid a visit to the printing house, composed the proposal for printing of the agitation and the guarantee letter concerning the payment for the printed production. He also brought the agreement for printing and the price list to the constituency election commission for entering the mark that guaranteed the transfer of the financial means for printing of the leaflets.

Dyliuk said that he couldn’t publish such a thing as otherwise he would be deprived of license, and advised Tseliapun to apply to private printing houses who may agree to publish such materials. In response, the candidate demanded from Color an official document confirming the refusal to print the agitation materials.

’A candidate can have his own opinion and express it’, states Mr. Tseliapun. He thinks that officers of the Mazyr district executive committee decided to take measures for prevention of distribution of his address to the electorate.

The situation of the agitation leaflets of Franak Viachorka, candidate for the Mazyr district Council of Deputies, is strange as well: they have been printed, but aren’t passed to him.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections