Homel observers ejected from polling stations, forced to observe in lobby

Observer Anatol Paplauny has been expelled from polling station No. 1 (Homel constituency No. 34) for taking photos of the ballot boxes.

“By 6 p.m. all the mobile ballot boxes should return to the polling stations. There are only three of them at the polling station. Two were brought back, and one was lost. When I tried to register that, they threw me out,” says Anatol Paplauny.

A press photographer of a private periodical was banned to take photos by the same election officials. The police were called. However, he was not arrested.

 Observer Viktar Kazlou was ejected from another polling station in Homel for “speaking in a loud voice and attracting attention to himself.”

The election commission No. 20 in Homel constituency No. 33 ordered observers to move to the lobby and observe the vote count through the opened door.

“Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections”