Salihorsk: authorities refuse to inform BHC representatives about meetings of district election commissions

On July 15th observers P. batuyeu and M. Sharavar addressed Salihorsk district executive committee with the request to inform them about the date, time and place of the first session of Salihorsk city and Salihorsk rural election commissions. They also attached an extract from the minutes of BHC board meeting which sent them to the meetings of the respective election commissions as observers.

However, the district authorities failed to inform both observers about the date, time and place of the first sessions. Moreover, the observers were not given the list of election commission members. An official representative of the executive committee told the observers, the information would be published in the local newspaper.

Having received the negative reply, P. Batuyeu addressed L. Klishevich, head of the district Council, with the same request. She told him the date of the first session of Salihorsk city election district (July 16th, 2008), but refused to inform him about the time and place where the first session would take place.

Similar incidents occurred in Slutsk and Niasvizh. BHC representative in Slutsk election district A. Amialkovich asked head of Slutsk election commission for the list of commission members. A. Andrushkevich, who served as head of the election commission in all elections since 1994) refused to give him the information, referring to the fact that it would be published in the local press. A. Karniushkin, head of the ideological department of Niasvizh administration and head of Niasvizh election commission, reacted in the same way to the request made by BHC representative U. Paklonski.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections