Baranavichy court refuses to consider candidate’s complaint
Mikalai Charnavus
On March 21, Judge Zhanna Kapacheuskaya of the Baranavichy District and City considered an urgent complaint by candidate Mikalai Charnavus against unlawful actions by the Chairperson of the Election Commission in constituency No. 21 Larysa Antonava.
Mikalai Charnavus complained that the Election Commission had done everything to consciously ban his speech at Baranavichy radio. He stressed that he for three times, on 24 April, 6 and 7 March, met with Ms. Antonava, and, as it became known to him, she intentionally excluded his name from the list of candidates supposed to speak on the radio. On March 14 and March 20, the candidate twice wrote complaints to the CEC Chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna, but the CEC took the side of the election commission. Therefore, Mikalai Charnavus filed a complaint to urge the City Court to assist in solving the problem. He asked the court to order the election official to add his name to the list of candidates provided with airtime on local radio.
However, the judge refused to open a civil case against the actions of the Election Commissioner, saying that the case is beyond the court’s jurisdiction.
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