16.12.2010 Baranavichy: international observer stopped mysterious movements of ballot box

Electoral precinct No.28 is situated on the third store of the administrative building of the joint-stock company Truck Autopark No.4 in Hruntovaya Street, 47. However, after the end of the voting at 7 p.m. on 14 December, the ballot box for early voting was carried out of the electoral precinct and taken to Telman Street, 102 to be stored there.

16.12.2010 Vitsebsk: parental meetings are arranged at schools to make parents vote early

The teachers of the Vitsebsk secondary school #17 announced that a parental meeting would take place on 17 December and parents must come there with their passports.

16.12.2010 Barysau: workers of BATE plant ask for notices confirming their early voting

The observers of the For Freedom movement and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee who observed the early election at precinct election commission #7, located in secondary school #16 of the town of Barysau, witnessed a strange thing.

16.12.2010 Hrodna: commission chairperson threatens to send observers away

An interesting incident was registered at electoral precinct #4 , located in the House of Creative Work of Children and Juniors in the Leninski district of Hrodna. The Chairperson of the precinct electoral commission warned the independent observers Raman Baranouski and Liudmila Stsiarnitskaya for counting the voters who were coming to the precinct.

16.12.2010 Polatsk: soldiers come to early voting in columns

Facts of pressurization of voters during the first day of the early voting were registered in Polatsk.

16.12.2010 Members of Young Belarus witness bringing of ballot box out of electoral precinct

A ballot box was taken to another room during the lunchtime.

Members of Young Belarus organization Pavel Prakapovich, Mikalai Stseshyts and Viktar Yazubchyts recorded a violation of the electoral legislation at a polling station in the Tsentralny district of Minsk.

16.12.2010 Amnesty International UK issues a briefing outlining key human rights concerns in Belarus

’The human rights of people in Belarus are routinely abused by the state. Freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest are not respected. Human rights defenders are harassed. We have serious concerns about unfair trials and the use of torture in detention. This is all the more worrying because Belarus is the only country in Europe still to retain the death penalty,’ said Amnesty international UK Director Kate Allen.

16.12.2010 Minsk: participant of Hide Your Grandma’s Passport clip expelled from university

The rector of Belarusian State University signed the order for his expulsion back on 15 October. However, the student was informed about it only on 14 December. The official reason for the expulsion is missing the university classes.

16.12.2010 Hrodna: police disrupt picket against early voting

The members of Uladzimir Niakliayeu's electoral team from Hrodna Aleh Kalinkou and Kiryl Semianchuk held a picket against early voting near Hrodna State Agrarian University.

16.12.2010 Minsk: activists of Citizen hand out symbolic writs to members of election commissions

Activists of the civil campaign Citizen started going round the precinct election commissions in Minsk. They plan to remind each of the 9,000 members of these commissions about the criminal responsibility for incorrect counting of votes and other violations of the electoral legislation.

16.12.2010 Young Front tells Makei to lay down weapons

Three activists of the Young Front were detained by the police for picketing the Presidential Administration on 15 December. According to one of the detainees, they held the action in connection with the recent statements of the head of the Presidential Administration, Uladzimir Makei, that the opposition was preparing terrorist acts with explosives for 19 December.

15.12.2010 Barysau: 24-hour observation is not permitted

Observers are not permitted to observe ballot boxes at the election precincts of Barysau on a 24-hour basis. As said by the coordinator of the For Fair Election-2010 campaign in Minsk region Mikalai Pakhabau, the commissions even refused to register new observers at one of them. told about this.

15.12.2010 Baranavichy: results of the first day of early voting

14 December, the first day of early voting revealed a lot of violations of the electoral legislation in Baranavichy. The biggest one was registered at election precinct #31, the commission of which is chaired by the chief physician of the local polyclinic, Elmira Bahdanovich.

15.12.2010 Students of Agricultural Academy to be freed from lectures for voting early

The newspaper Nasha Niva has published the letter of a student of Belarusian State Agricultural Academy. According to the letter, all students of the academy were informed that they must vote early, Thursday being the due date, a week before the early voting started.

15.12.2010 Preliminary Monitoring Report on the First Day of Early Voting

10:00, 15 December, Minsk – “Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections” campaign presents its preliminary monitoring report on observation of the first day of early voting (14 December). The observation is being carried out by 600 short-term and 80 long-term observers at 300 polling stations throughout Belarus.