Salihorsk electors misinformed by state-owned press

Edition # 156-159 (11286-11289) of the socio-political newspaper Shakhtsior contains the article Time to Choose, a large interview with the head of the Salihorsk District Election Commission Lidziya Klishevich who is also the head of the Salihorsk District Council. The official tells about the technical details of collection of signatures in support of the potential candidates for president of Belarus and reminds about the ruling of the Salihorsk District Executive Committee that determined the places that were banned for electoral picketing.

However, the enumeration of the places that are concerned by this ban cannot but cause surprise. In particular, it is stated that picketing is banned at a distance of less than 50 meters from the territory of the organizations that were responsible for water, heating and energy supply, the public transport, polyclinics, hospitals, kindergartens, educational and sportive establishments, the center squares of Salihorsk, Starobin and Chyrvonaya Slabada. However, these squares had been excluded from the ban list by ruling of the Salihorsk District Executive Committee #1851 of 1 October. It is even more interesting that this ruling is also published in a small font in one of the last pages of the newspaper.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections learned that a number of citizens intended to address the newspaper (which is the official printed organ of the Salihorsk District Executive Committee) and demand to publish a disclaimer of the information that was given in the interview of Lidziya Klishevich.

Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections