Four representatives of the Honest People initiative observing early voting in the presidential elections in Belarus were detained on Wednesday at different precincts, the initiative's coordinator told Sputnik
MINSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th August, 2020) Four representatives of the Honest People initiative observing early voting in the presidential elections in Belarus were detained on Wednesday at different precincts, the initiative's coordinator told Sputnik.
"Over three hours of [the precincts'] work, since 10:00 a.m. [07:00 GMT], we have received information about four detentions [of observers," the coordinator said.
According to the activist, observers are being detained under various pretexts. In particular, there is a restriction on the number of observers at a polling station due to the coronavirus pandemic � there should be no more than three. If other observers who have come to the precinct start demanding that they are also allowed to be present, they can be detained by the police and taken to the police station to establish their identity.
Later in the day, the coordinator reported another three observer detentions, who, according to the initiative, had not violated the law, interfered with the work of the commission or behaved properly.
Meanwhile, former Belarusian presidential candidate Valery Tsepkalo also said that his observer was detained earlier in the day.
The presidential election in Belarus is scheduled for August 9. Five people are registered as candidates, including the current head of state, Alexander Lukashenko. The campaigning started on July 14 and will last until August 8. Early voting began in the republic on Tuesday. The turnout during the first day of the vote was 4.98 percent.
