On February 19 the trial of Artsyom Skarabahatau has been held. The election observer will have to spend 7 days in prison.
He was arrested for allegedly swearing at a polling station in agrotown Lyasny near Minsk, the human rights centre Viasna reports. The man must have been neutralized for his intention to make the counting of votes transparent.
It was Krystsina Shablovskaya, deputy chairman of the election commission at the polling station, who called the police. Skarabahaty interfered with the commission’s work, he shouted and used bad language, she claims.
According to his family, Artsyom was detained by plainclothes persons who did not identify themselves, failed to show any documents and just trew him into a car.
Artsyom Skarabahaty is being kept in a temporary detention facility in Minsk.
18,110 deputies were elected to the local councils of Belarus on February, 18. Early voting kicked off in Belarus on February, 13. There might have been many rigged votes and violations from Tuesday till Saturday, independent observers warn.
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belsat.eu, photo by spring96.org
