{"id":112718,"date":"2024-11-05T22:38:33","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T19:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/112718\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"rights-activists-say-election-cannot-be-free","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/112718\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights activists say election cannot be free"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

November 5, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian citizens cannot democratically express their will, the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections said in its first report ahead of January’s vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the political terror and human rights crisis that followed the peaceful protests of 2020, a free and open campaign is unrealistic. “Repression has continued and even intensified to this day,” the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By suddenly scheduling the presidential election six months before the expected date and leaving 95 days for the entire procedure, the authorities once again instrumentalized the electoral process, adjusting the election date to suit their political objectives,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government \u201cpractically excluded\u201d its opponents from the race, it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Established in 2008, the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections includes Viasna Human Rights Center and Belarusian Helsinki Committee election monitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus has not held a single free and fair election since 1996 by the standards of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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