Aleh Ramashkevich warned for handing out newspapers in Vialikaya Berastavitsa

On February 6 at a local civil society activist Aleh Ramashkevich was invited to a meeting of the Berastavitsa District Election Commission, and later – to a meeting of a constituency election commission.

Earlier he had registered two electoral teams with the aim to collect signatures for his nomination to the Berastavitsa District Council and the Hrodna Regional Council at Eastern constituency No. 8 and Berastavitsa constituency No. 18 repsectively. At the both meetings he was unanimously warned for an alleged violation of the procedure of collecting signatures provided by Article 49 of the Electoral Code.

The election commissions considered as unacceptable the distribution of newspapers printed in the circulation of 299 copies - “Belaruskaya Satsiyal-Demacratychnaya Partyia (Hramada)” and “Holas Pamezzha” ("Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada)" and "Voice of the Borderlands"). The commissions took the opinion that the newspapers contained agitation materials related to the
contender for candidacy.

Aleh Ramashkevch says that the first newspaper didn't contain any photos of him or any mentions about him. The other newspaper contains two small pictures of him under the articles "Poll of citizens of Vialikaya Berastavitsa about their attitude to local border traffic between Belarus and Poland” and " Recent history", telling about the history of independent social movements in the Berastavitsa district. Mr. Ramashkevich believes that the authorities were scared by the ideas of the “People's Referendum” and local border traffic, raized in the newspaper.

The activist said that he did not conduct any premature campaigning for himself. He says that receiving warnings at the beginning of the electoral campaign has already become a tradition – similar warnings were issued to him during the last local elections.

"Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections"