Hrodna region: ‘terrorist acts’ of opposition as the last argument for early voting
The facts of forced
early voting have been registered in several districts of the Hrodna region. For
instance, 12 of the people who are serving their terms of corrective labor in
the open penitentiary establishment in the Masty district (not far from the
town of Lunna), were taken to the Lunna election precinct in the morning of 14
December.
A member of the precinct election commission Liavon Karpovich (representative
of the Belarusian Social Democratic Hramada) thinks that it was done on decision
of the administration of the penitentiary institution, which is witnessed by
the fact that its representative was present at the election precinct.
A platoon of soldiers of the frontier service was brought to electoral precinct
#113, located in the building of secondary school #11 in Hrodna. The commandant
of the platoon refused to talk with a journalist.
Another case of coercion to early voting was registered in the state enterprise
Ablspazhyusayuz in Valkovich Street. Its workers were
summoned for an assembly during their working hours. The Deputy Head of the
enterprise Dzmitry Kryzhanouski and the Chairperson of the personnel department
Liudmila Dziiachenka agitated them to vote early. They even tried to scare the
people by saying that the Election Day was quite dangerous, as the state
structures informed about the possible terrorist acts that were allegedly being
prepared by the opposition.
Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections
