Police go back to arrests of peaceful protesters, strikers and opposition figures
Police detain protester in Independence Square in Minsk. August 24, 2020. Photo: tut.by Thirty-nine protesters faced administrative charges following yesterday’s protests in a number of Belarusian cities, the Interior Ministry’s spokesperson said. Three criminal cases were opened to investigate alleged violence against police officers, it said. Siarhei Verameyenka, an activist in Hrodna, faced criminal charges […]
Protesters detained in dozens again, several sentenced to prison sentences
Teachers protesting outside the Ministry of Education in Minsk. The protests was prompted by Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s threat to expel disloyal educators from schools. August 25, 2020. Photo: tut.by Over fifty protesters were detained on 25 August during and after several demonstrations held in Minsk, Homieĺ, Hrodna and Babrujsk. Some of them were released, but […]
What can the OSCE do in Belarus?
Image source: N1 info Many politicians and commentators have called for the involvement of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Belarus. The OSCE is a security body which includes 57 participating states, including all states of Europe, the US and Canada. It has a comprehensive approach to security that encompasses […]
EPDE welcomes EU, US, and the Russian Federation’s call for OSCE facilitation in Belarus
Protesters unfold a banner reading “Fair Elections, Court Trial, Freedom for Political Prisoners” during the rally in Minsk, 16 August, 2020. Credit: Natalia Fedosenko / TASS EPDE Statement: The European Platform for Democratic Elections appreciates the latest developments with the United States, the European Union and the Russian President Putin having called on the […]
National Extraordinary Public Health Commission disregarded public consultation process, anti-COVID measures too broad
Prime Minister Ion Chicu chairs a meeting of the National Extraordinary Public Health Commission. Source: gov.md Considering that the Central Electoral Commission proposed for public consultations the Instruction on preventing the spread of COVID-19 infection during the electoral period, approved by the National Extraordinary Public Health Commission (NEPHC), the Promo-LEX Association comes with the following findings: […]
CEC and CICDE failed to accomplish all activities foreseen in their 2016-2019 Strategic Plans
Promo-LEX announced the findings of the Final Evaluation Report on the implementation of the Strategic Plans of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) and the Center for Continuous Electoral Training (CICDE) for 2016 – 2019. Following the evaluation, it was found that in the implementation of the planned actions, both the CEC and the CICDE have registered a certain degree […]
EPDE calls for authorities to refrain from interfering in the activities of the CEC ahead of local elections
Image source: RBK-Ukraine In recent days, media outlets reported that a meeting took place in the President’s Office where unnamed officials recommended to the Chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Oleh Didenko, CEC Secretary Olena Hataullina and three other CEC members that they resign due to their alleged affiliation with the former Head […]
HRDs call to release political prisoners held on rioting charges
Peaceful protester detained in Minsk. August 10, 2020. Photo: belsat.eu Following reports about the arrest of activists of the campaign headquarters of former presidential nominee Viktar Babaryka — Liavon Khalatran, Anton Bialinski, Ihar Bialinski, Andrei Pazniak, Siarhei Mikhayenka, Yury Vaskrasenski, Artur Vaskrasenski, Ihar Yarmolau, Artsiom Moladau, Aliaksandra Moladava and Uladzislau Karenski — as suspects in a criminal case […]
44 protesters still in detention, 13 missing, one more reported dead
Protester detained by riot police. Photo: belsat.eu 44 people detained during the post-election protests remain in custody, after they were sentenced to short terms of administrative detention, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also confirmed that 6 persons were still held as part of “ongoing investigations”. Some 6,700 protesters […]
Second interim report of pre-election monitoring of the Parliamentary elections
The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED) has been monitoring the pre-election period of the October 31, 2020 elections of the Parliament of Georgia since June 1. The monitoring is implemented with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Union (EU). Second interim report of the pre-election […]