Leanid Haravy, observer in the town of Haradok (Vitsebsk region), has been shown the door by chairman of the constituency election commission Piotr Prasolau on the grounds that the observer allegedly interfered with voting.

Leanid Haravy in his turn says he only approached a polling booth, since “one can only see people’s backs from the place set aside for observers.” “I cannot see the ballots being issued. The area of the polling station is extremely small, therefore I decided to move a little,” says the observer.

Leanid Haravy stresses that it was yesterday that he faced harassment from the polling station election officials, when he was told he was “disrupting the activities of the election commission” by taking a photo of the premises. The same claims were voiced after the observer phoned the constituency election commission to complaint of the incident.

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”