Mahiliou HR defender appeals ban on recording at election commission’s sitting

Mahiliou human rights defender Barys Bukhel urges the Central Election Commission to reverse an earlier decision by constituency election commission No. 87 to prohibit audio recording at its sittings.

Barys Bukhel was not allowed using his voice recorder during the sitting of the election commission on 18 July, when 8 out of 10 commissioners voted for the ban.

“The ban is absolutely illegal, as the country’s legislation of every level provides for audio and video recording, as well as taking photos. Therefore, constituency election commission No. 87 did not have a right to impose restrictions,” says the human rights defender.

Barys Bukhel also stresses that the provisions of Par. 1 Art. 34 of the Belarusian Constitution and Par. 1 Art. 13 of the Electoral Code he refers to in his complaint have direct effect, i.e. neither these provisions themselves nor other provisions of the electoral legislation mention any references that enable election commissions and government bodies to restrict the rights of the citizens to fully and transparently receive and store information on open sittings of election commissions.