As soon as the head of the Pinsk organization of the Belarusian Popular Front Aliaksandr Ramanovich stated his intention to get nominated as a candidate for the Parliament at Pinsk election constituency #14, a denigration campaign was launched against him.

A neutral article was published about his participation in the election at one of the regional websites. Unknown trolls left more than 80 comments under the publications, flinging tons of mud on the BPF candidate and some other Pinsk activists. The active trolling continued even further, in comments to the next article.

Moreover, a fake Facebook account was registered in the name of Aliaksandr Ramanovich and some compromising photos were uploaded to it. Mr. Ramanovich considers it as a reaction of security services to his wish to take part in the election – he is the only democratic activist who decided to run in the Pinsk area.

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”