The courts of Leninski and Kastrychnitski districts of Mahiliou have dismissed the complaints against non-inclusion of representatives of the Belarusian Popular Front “Adradzhenne” in local constituency election commissions.

According to human rights defender Barys Bukhel, the sitting of Kastrychnitski district executive committee that approved the composition of election commissions lasted for 10 minutes only and failed to consider the submitted nominations. The sitting of Leninski district administration was secret, as local human rights defenders and observers were not informed on its date and place.

“The administration of Kastrychnitski district failed to present a copy of its decision. The information published in the press does not mention the election commissioners’ occupations,” says Mr. Bukhel.

The decision to dismember BPF representatives was groundless, says the human rights defender. “Every commission, except for those located in hospitals and military units, has 15 members, while the Electoral Code allows having up to 19 commissioners. As a result, 6 representatives of the BPF “Adradzhenne” were not included in the constituency election commissions of Kastrychnitski district, and 13 activists were not allowed working on the commissions of Leninski district. One of the reasons for the decision was that the BPF’s regional branch is not situated at its legal address. However, it is not the district administration’s business, but that of the regional department of justice, which does not have any claims for the organization,” says Mr. Bukhel.

During the court hearing at Kastrychnitski District Court, representative of the executive authorities Dzmitry Tsimafeyenka said that the BPF’s members were not included in the election commissions because some of them were unemployed or retired, and some had administrative and criminal convictions.

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”