{"id":121995,"date":"2025-01-16T14:44:39","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T11:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/121995\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"interior-ministry-warns-against-insulting-election-officials-ahead-of-presidential-vote","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/121995\/","title":{"rendered":"Interior ministry ready to combat abuse of election officials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 16, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Law enforcement officers will immediately punish threats or insults of election officials, Alaksandar Kup\u010denia of the interior ministry has told journalists, citing abuse incidents recorded in past elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The comment may be linked to today\u2019s claims by Belarus\u2019 top security official Alaksandar Valfovi\u010d, who accusing exiled regime critics and their “Western curators” of threatening members of election commissions as well as their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All polling stations at the seventh presidential election scheduled for January 21-26 will be equipped with CCTV and alarm systems, Kup\u010denia added, noting that police officers and internal troops will be on high alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities also plan to set up additional mobile units and rapid response groups fully equipped with automatic weapons to assist officers guarding polling stations, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vigilante groups, retired policemen and activists of the state-run youth union will help police guard polling stations just as they did during the parliamentary and local elections in early 2024, the official noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus will hold its seventh presidential election from January 21 to 26, with the whole election cycle limited to just three months. The current campaign is taking place in a purged political landscape amid a new crackdown on regime critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five presidential bidders are Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, his supporters Aleh Hajdukievi\u010d, Alaksandar Chi\u017eniak, Siarhiej Syranko\u016d as well as former opposition MP Hanna Kanapackaja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian opposition dismissed the election as a sham, noting that political reprisals prevent pro-democracy candidates from running and voters from freely expressing their will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country 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

\n\n
\n \"\"