Many ’observers’ at the Slutsk District Election Commission

According to human rights defender Vital Amialkovich, the majority of observers accredited at the Slutsk District Election Commission are put there for the sake of appearance.

’I twice met observers at the commission sittings – they represented the Belarusian Union of Military Officers and the Belarusian Union of Women. At the same time, there are 11 persons on the list of the observers that were accredited by the Slutsk DEC,’ says Mr. Amialkovich. ‘None of the observers nominated by NGOs and political parties do anything, with the exception of the long-term observers of the OSCE/ODIHR mission. None of them attended the electoral meetings of the presidential candidates Ryhor Kastusiou, Yaraslau Ramanchuk and Andrei Sannikau.’

The human rights defender reminds that the Slutsk District Election Commission accredited observers from the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, the Belarusian Union of Women, the Belarusian Union of Military Officers, the Peace Fund, the Belarusian Children’s Fund, the Slutsk district committee of trade unions of workers of state agencies, the Minsk regional organization of the Belarusian Social Sportive Party and the election observation mission of the Commonwealth of Independent States. All aforementioned organizations are loyal to the present state regime.