Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections

The potential presidential candidate was detained near the CEC on July 17.

Human rights defenders Leanid Svetski and Pavel Levinau will not be allowed to attend the meetings that are expected to form election commissions in Viciebsk. The BHC observers were told that "monitoring meetings is not permitted by law."

The Central Election Commission completed today the registration of initiative groups to nominate candidates for the presidency, the BelTA news agency reports. As a result, the CEC has authorized a total of eight campaign teams to participate in the collection of voters’ signatures.

Today, a joint meeting of the Presidium of the Baranavičy District Council of Deputies and the District Executive Committee was held to form the regional territorial election commission. However, Siarhei Housha, a representative of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, was not allowed to attend the meeting.

Representatives of the opposition, member of the United Civil Party Zinaida Shumilina, and activist of the Left Party "Fair World" Viktar Khomich were not included in the Homieĺ regional election commission.

Hrodna observers report that the formation of territorial election commissions at joint meetings of the district administrations and the presidiums of local councils brought no surprises. Nominees from the democratic forces were not included in the election commissions. Moreover, their candidacies were not even put on a vote.

All the official websites of district executive committees in the Viciebsk region have published information on places prohibited for organizing pickets to campaign for the nomination of presidential candidates. The only exception is Orša district.

Government House guard called the police on suspicion that Mr Shulhan had come to the CEC to register the nominating group being under the influence.

As of July 18, five out of 21 official websites of district authorities in Mahilioŭ region have not published decisions by local executive committees on places prohibited for staging campaigning pickets.

According to the schedule of the election campaign, local executive and administrative bodies should have been no later than on July 17 announced the list of places where it is forbidden to hold pickets in order to collect signatures in support of a candidate for President.

As in the other regions of Belarus, the executive committee of Sluck and Pinsk district have prohibited to organize campaigning pickets in the most crowded places.

Before the presidential election that took place in 2010, the Smarhoń district executive committee prohibited holding pickets in order to collect signatures in the places impeding the movement of vehicles and pedestrians; posing a danger to the life and health of citizens; at railway transport facilities; at the entrances to the organizations and religious institutions.

On July 17, the Homieĺ city executive committee announced the list of places forbidden for picketing to collect signatures in support of presidential candidates. The decision of July 15 differs from the previous similar legal acts adopted in the last elections to local councils (2014) and the presidential campaign in 2010 by imposing a ban on collecting signatures at bus stations, railway stations and at the territory near the stations.

The website of the Kruhlaje district executive committee has published a new decision "On the determination of places prohibited for picketing in order to collect voters' signatures for nomination of candidates for the presidency of the Republic of Belarus". The decision of the executive committee is dated July 15.

The official website of the Babrujsk City Executive Committee published on July 17 a list of places prohibited for picketing in order to collect voters' signatures for nomination of presidential candidates. The document was adopted on July 16.