The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for July 2015

23.07.2015 Viciebsk: Human rights defender loses court appeal against ban on election commission membership

Pavel Levinau had been delegated two groups of voters, who wanted to see him among the members of the Pieršmajski district election commission and the Viciebsk regional election commission.

23.07.2015 Maladziečna executive committee violates CEC decision

On Friday, July 17, a representative of the BPF in Maladziečna, Volha Lahvinovich, brought the documents for nomination to the territorial election commission (TEC) of the party representatives and could not find anyone to whom they should be submitted.

23.07.2015 Collecting of signatures for presidential candidates starts today

July 23 is the first day of collecting signatures by initiative groups of the presidential candidates.

23.07.2015 Minsk city election commission: 61.5% of 2014 commissioners

Of the nine nominated representatives of the opposition parties only three will work in the territorial commissions of Minsk. Dzmitry Kaspiarovich (BPF) – Minsk city election commission, Yury Suares (the Party "Fair World") – the Saviecki district election commission, and Nadzeya Shomchanka (the Belarusian Social Democratic party (Hramada) – the Zavodski district election commission.

23.07.2015 Sluck: 8 minutes to form election commission

On July 22, the Presidium of the Sluck District Council of Deputies and the representatives of the Sluck District Executive Committee formed a territorial election commission in just eight minutes. There was no discussion of the candidates, and most of that time was spent on quoting excerpts from the electoral legislation.

23.07.2015 Maryna Adamovich appeals ban on registration of Mikalai Statkevich’s campaign team

Maryna Adamovich, the wife of political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich, who is his legal representative and the head of the initiative group for his nomination as a presidential candidate, filed yesterday an appeal in the Supreme Court against the CEC's refusal to register the initiative group. The CEC decision was adopted on 20 July.

22.07.2015 BHC representative not allowed to attend meeting of district election commission in Viciebsk

Leanid Svetsik, representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Viciebsk, was not allowed to attend today’s first meeting of the Kastryčnicki district election commission, after deputy chairman of the Viciebsk city executive committee Piotr Padhurski said that his presence was not ‘welcome’.

22.07.2015 Babrujsk: officials elected to election commission under the guise of ‘public representatives’

The website of the Babrujsk city executive committee has published a full list of members of the two district election commissions in the city. The vast number of TEC members are people who have worked in the commissions during the previous election campaigns.

22.07.2015 Government website in Homieĺ supports future presidential candidate?

The website of the administration of Homieĺ’s Čyhunačny district has posted, in addition to the official information of the start of the campaign and the creation of the district election commission, an announcement about the public reception service of the NGO “Belaya Rus”.

22.07.2015 No opposition representatives in Mahilioŭ regional election commission

The joint meeting of the Presidium of the Mahilioŭ Regional Council and the Regional Executive Committee was attended by local human rights activist Barys Bukhel.

22.07.2015 Only 1 new member on Žodzina election commission

The Žodzina city election commission, whose composition was approved on July 21 in just 17 minutes, will have only one new member, Yauheniya Milchenia, an employee of local social protection service, who was nominated by a group of citizens.

22.07.2015 Maryna Adamovich: “Refusal to register Statkevich’s initiative group violates the law”

Maryna Adamovich, the wife of political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich, and head of his campaign team, argues that the refusal to register his initiative violates the Electoral Code.

22.07.2015 Monitoring for the II Quarter of 2015 on Freedom of Association Published

Assembly of NGOs together with the Legal Transformation Centre prepared Monitoring for the II quarter of 2015 ‘Freedom of association and legal conditions for non-profit organizations in Belarus”.

22.07.2015 Salihorsk: Territorial commission formed in 15 minutes

The formation of the Salihorsk district election commission followed a completely predictable scenario, says local representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Leanid Markhotka, who attended the meeting.

22.07.2015 Brest: No opposition on territorial election commissions

Most of the seats in the newly created election commissions of Lieninski and Maskoŭski districts of Brest belong to representatives of pro-government associations.