The Homel-based Savetski Rayon state newspaper keeps using defamation against opposition leaders, as part of a campaign traditional for pre-election period.

The newspaper’s reporter Aliaksandr Yauseyenka once again says Belarusian opposition activists “are not ready for the elections”. He also argues the opposition politicians “have done nothing” since the previous election campaign. The only objective of the Belarusian opposition is “working on foreign grants”, says the journalist.

Moreover, Aliaksandr Yauseyenka says he is “surprised” by the activities of Belarusian human rights defenders, who “are going to act as observers at the election; however, they are not going to monitor the election procedures or the vote count, but the forced voting.” “Who can explain this notion? Is this when the police break into an apartment and convoy the citizen to a polling station?” writes the journalist.