Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections

At the same time, the Mahilioŭ Regional Election Commission informed the public activist Aliaksei Paulouski that the signatures were collected at state enterprises in the free time, without coercion, and only by members of the initiative group of Aliaksandr Lukashenka.

September 11, resolutions №21-14, №21-15, №21-16 that define the conditions for the election campaign in Hlusk, were published at the website of the Hlusk District Executive Committee.

Baranavičy human rights activist Siarhei Housha filed a repeated complain to the Central Election Commission regarding the early campaigning for Lukashenka.

Observation of the election of the President of Belarus is carried out by activists of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the Human Rights Center "Viasna" in the framework of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections".

September 11, a press-conference of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" on the occasion of completion of three important stages of organizational measures on preparation and holding of elections, which actually make up half of the election campaign, took place at the office of the HRC "Viasna".

The picket of September 10, 2015 was of peaceful nature. The absence of an application for holding the mass event, as required by law, is not a reason to limit the freedom of peaceful assembly.

September 9 in Salihorsk, a meeting of the administration of "Belaruskali" had a meeting with its engineering staff of the first mine - managers and supervisors at all levels of the mine group. Ordinary workers weren't invited. Instead, there were the director general Ivan Halavaty, his deputy for ideological work and personnel Anatol Makhlai and the director of the first mine, Aliaksandr Harbachou.

36 long-term observers of the OSCE have arrived in Belarus to monitor the presidential elections. Six of them are in the Brest region – in Brest, Pinsk and Baranavičy.

Apart from the international mission of the OSCE, the election campaign has been monitored from its very beginning by "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" (including the HRC "Viasna" and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee), "Right to Choose-2015" and "For Fair Elections".

September 7, the Kryčaŭ DEC adopted ruling №22-5 «On information security and creating the conditions for pre-election campaign of candidates for president of the Republic of Belarus”, published on September 9 on the website of the local newspaper " Kryčaŭskaje Žyccio".

Former political prisoner and presidential candidate of the Republic of Belarus in 2010 Mikalai Statkevich stated he would hold an electoral picket on September 10 with the demand of free elections. The action started at 6 p.m.

At the unauthorized picket “For Free and Fair Elections”, held near the City Department Store (HUM) on September 10, former political prisoner and presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich promised to invite Aliaksandr Lukashenka to a meeting in the coming weeks.

Minsk City Executive Committee has determined the sites for pre-election campaigning, as well as the list of premises for meetings of presidential candidates with voters and the list of places where informational boards could be installed for the purpose of placing the printed campaign materials of the candidates on them.

The deterioration of the conditions for campaigning in Žodzina has been registered by an independent observer at the Žodzina City Election Commission Aliaksei Lapitski.

At 11 a.m. on September 11, the civil campaign "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" will hold a press-conference, dedicated to summarizing the monitoring results of the first stage of the presidential electoral campaign in Belarus.