2010 presidential election in Belarus

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Standard of the President of the Republic of Belarus

The 2010 presidential election in Belarus (Republic of Belarus) took place on December 19, 2010. Aljaksandr Lukashenka , who has been in power since 1994, ran for a fourth term in this election.

Election date

In September 2010, the Belarusian parliament set December 19, 2010 as the election date. The latest possible date for holding the election would have been February 7, 2011, since according to the Belarusian constitution the election cannot take place later than two months before the end of the current legislative period.

Incumbent Aljaksandr Lukashenka

Candidates

A total of ten candidates ran for the presidential election:

Result

place candidate be right
absolutely %
1 Aljaksandr Lukashenka 5,122,866 79.67%
2 Andrej Sannikau (164,000) 2.56%
3 Jaraslau Ramanchuk 0126,986 1.97%
4th Rygor Kastusjou 0126,645 1.97%
5 Uladsimir Nyakljajeu 0113,747 1.77%
6th Wital Rymascheuski 0070,433 1.1%
7th Viktor Tsareshchanka 0069,653 1.08%
8th Mikalaj Statkevich (67,000) 1.04%
9 Ales Michalevich 0065,598 1.02%
10 Dimitrij Uss (31,000) 0.48%
For none of the candidates (abstention) 6.47%
voter turnout 92.9%

The result was announced on December 20, 2010 by the chairwoman of the Central Election Commission Lidsija Yarmoschyna during a press conference . An exit poll survey by the Independent Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (NISEPI) , which is registered in Vilnius , found support of 51.1% of voters for Lukashenka, 8.3% for Nyakljajeu and 6.1% % for Sannikau.

The role of Russia

In the summer of 2010, relations between Russia and Belarus, which were marked by disputes over the supply of gas and oil , deteriorated rapidly . The Russian government expressed its disappointment at the lack of recognition of the Georgian- breakaway and Russian-backed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia . Belarusian President Lukashenka claimed that he had never specifically promised recognition, while his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev claimed the opposite and accused Lukashenka of breaking his word.

A documentary series about Lukashenka was broadcast on the government-controlled Russian television station NTW , in which the Belarusian president was accused of abuse of office, contacts with criminal structures and the disappearance of political opponents. On the basis of these events, it was suspected that Russia was aiming to replace Lukashenka and could support one of the opposition candidates in the upcoming election. In media reports it was speculated that Andrej Sannikau from the movement “ European Belarus ” could possibly be supported by Moscow.

First protest rally in Minsk

The participants in the presidential election in Belarus were not allowed to hold rallies in the central squares of the capital, according to the new regulations of the Minsk City Council of November 19, 2010. Representatives of civil society criticize the fact that the general ban on demonstrations within several hundred meters of subway stations makes legal demonstrations in the center of Minsk de facto impossible - a regulation that is incompatible with the Belarusian constitution.

Despite the official ban on demonstrations, between 1000 and 5000 (depending on the source) opponents of the government gathered in the capital Minsk on November 24, 2010. Mikalaj Statkewitsch , chairman of the Social Democratic Party (Hramada) , described the rally as "the only weapon in the fight against the dictatorship". The protesters called for the resignation of President Aljaksandr Lukashenka . The demonstration was intended to commemorate the controversial referendum of November 1996, with which President Lukashenka dissolved parliament and changed the constitution to secure his power.

After this first major demonstration in Minsk , the two presidential candidates who took part in the rally were threatened with electoral exclusion: Wital Rymascheuski , co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democrats , and Uladzimir Njakljajeu (“ Tell the Truth ” movement) were warned by the public prosecutor.

Large demonstration on election evening

Special forces encircle demonstrators

Several thousand people - 3,000 according to official figures and 15,000 to 25,000 according to independent media - gathered on December 19 in the center of Minsk to demonstrate against election fraud. It was the largest demonstration in Belarus since the 2006 presidential election. The presidential candidate Uladzimir Nyakljajeu was arrested on the way to October Square . Security forces attacked his platoon with stun grenades, beat his supporters down and beat them. Njakljajeu himself was seriously injured and dragged out of the hospital by plainclothes men that night.

The leaders of the rally called for peaceful protest. In the evening, however, the window panes of the government headquarters on Independence Square were demolished. It remains unclear whether this was the act of demonstrators or "provocateurs". The police force gathered in the building advanced against the crowd, but soon withdrew. Only when the opposition leaders approached the entrance to the parliament building did the special forces attack the protesters.

The demonstration was brutally suppressed by security forces and over 600 people were arrested. Reporters Without Borders documented several cases of massive police violence against journalists covering the rally. James Hill, photographer for the New York Times , was beaten while trying to show his press card. His equipment and materials were confiscated by the police, and films and photos were deleted. The Belarusian reporter Iryna Chalip was broadcast live for the Russian radio station Echo Moskwybeaten and arrested by police officers. She reported "slaps in the face". Her husband, presidential candidate Andrei Sannikau, was also beaten up during the demonstration. 45 people accused of stirring up mass unrest faced prison sentences of up to 15 years (Article 293.1 of the Belarusian criminal law). Of these, 31 were still in custody in January 2011, including the presidential candidates Uladzimir Njakljajeu and Andrej Sannikau .

Dealing with the detainees

Most of the more than 600 detainees were sentenced to 10 to 20 days in prison. The individual guilt of the demonstrators was not examined by the court, according to statements by human rights activists, and there were numerous violations of the prisoners' human dignity during the prison term.

The prominent prisoners in the KGB “Amerikanka” prison had no access to their lawyers for over two weeks, and almost no information about their condition was made public. The Minsk prosecutor Siarhej Barysenka publicly described this fact as normal: "We have not received any complaints from the participants in the criminal proceedings [...] The norms of the constitution and criminal procedural law are fully met." Until January 2011, the prisoners also received no access to doctors, although some of them sustained serious injuries by state forces during the demonstrations.

The presidential candidate Mikalay Statkevich is said to have started a hunger strike since his arrest. In May 2011 he was sentenced to six years in prison for “organizing mass unrest”. Statkewitsch was first employed in a sawmill in penal colony No. 17 and then transferred to prison No. 4 in January 2012 for alleged violations of the rules. His wife was only allowed to visit him for four hours a year and to speak to him on the phone once a month. Statkevich was released in the run-up to the presidential election on August 23, 2015.

Amnesty International reported that presidential candidate Andrej Sannikau was tortured physically and mentally in prison. He was also denied medical care despite the severe pain. His lawyer reported various signs of injury that his client had: He could not walk, had a sprained or broken leg, traces of blows on the head and bruises on his hands. Sannikau was sentenced to five years in prison, which he in Bobruisk had to serve in solitary confinement, where he was repeatedly threatened with death. On April 14, 2012, he was pardoned and released early.

The presidential candidate Uladsimir Nyakljajeu was kidnapped from the intensive care unit by the authorities while he was being treated for his head injury. On January 29, 2011, he was transferred from prison to house arrest and on May 20, 2011, he was sentenced to two years in prison.

Reactions to the election

The OSCE election observation mission found on December 20, 2010 that the election did not meet democratic criteria. Among other things, the report points out that in most of the polling stations, election observers were forbidden from observing the vote count. The local election observation mission "Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections" drew a similar conclusion. Critics of the electoral process stressed that the Belarusian electoral law requires transparent counting (Decree 25 of the Central Electoral Commission). With a few exceptions, complaints by election observers against the massive violations were not admitted.

The human rights organization Vyazna reported several inconsistencies and violations during the election. A ballot box in a polling station in Minsk was missing 480 ballot papers. Although the local electoral commission said 1,719 ballot papers were issued on election day, only 1,239 ballot papers were found during the count. A total of 125 complaints against election violations were passed on to local election commissions. Vyasna also criticized the negative portrayal or lack of presence of opposition candidates in state media in the run-up to the election.

The foreign ministers of Germany ( Guido Westerwelle ), Sweden ( Carl Bildt ), the Czech Republic ( Karel Schwarzenberg ) and Poland ( Radosław Sikorski ) condemned the electoral fraud and the repression of the opposition.

After the OSCE's criticism of the course of the election, the Belarusian leadership announced the closure of the OSCE mission in Minsk at the beginning of 2011 on the grounds that it had already fulfilled its task. The secret service raided several non-state media and human rights organizations. The state newspaper Belarus Sevodnja published intelligence material in January accusing EU governments and secret services, particularly Poland and Germany, of financing the Nyaklyayeus election campaign and the December 19 demonstration. The aim was to replace Lukashenka with a "docile puppet". The Federal Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations as absurd. The social democratic opposition candidate Mikalaj Statkewitschwent on a hunger strike in prison. Opposition members who were not imprisoned set up a nationwide coordination council to coordinate their actions against the repression. As a "sign of solidarity", Poland abolished visa fees for Belarusian citizens and imposed an entry ban on high-ranking Belarusian officials. On January 20, 2011, the German Bundestag endorsed harsh sanctions against those in power in Belarus across all political groups and demanded the immediate release of all political prisoners. At the same time, the parliamentarians announced that they would campaign for visa simplifications for Belarusian citizens and more scholarship programs for students. The European Unionon January 31, 2011 imposed sanctions on the Minsk leadership. President Lukashenka and 156 other state officials were banned from entering the country and their accounts were frozen. However, it rejected the economic sanctions demanded by Poland and Sweden against the country because the other member states did not want the population to suffer. The US, on the other hand, imposed travel restrictions as well as financial sanctions, which included the lifting of the temporary approval for business deals with the state-owned oil and chemical conglomerate Belneftekhim. After the presidential candidate Statkevich was released along with five other political prisoners in August 2015, in the course of the2015 presidential election in Belarus, the sanctions were suspended on a trial basis. In February 2016, the sanctions against the Belarusian government, some of which have been in place since 2004, were almost completely lifted. That with the disappearance of political opponents only four officials Yury Zacharanka , Viktar Hanchar , Anatoly Krassouski and Dsmitryj Zavadsky be associated, remained on the sanctions list.

Russia and CIS

The decision by the Belarusian judiciary not to release eleven Russian citizens arrested during the protests for the time being has sparked criticism from the Russian government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Belarusian ambassador to express its displeasure with the continued detention of the Russians. President Dmitry Medvedev initially described the elections as an "internal affair" and only six days after the polls did not congratulate Lukashenka on his re-election in a brief statement.

The CIS secretary Sergei Lebedev, however, described the election as free and democratic . CIS observers recognized the election as legitimate on election evening.

Repressions after the election

Although the presidential candidate Ales Mikhalevich did not take part in the rally, he was arrested on election night and detained for three months in a basement of the KGB building. He also reported torture. In the weeks following the election, there was a massive wave of arrests, house searches and seizures of computer hardware. The KGB secret service searched the offices of the human rights organization Vyazna and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, as well as the private homes of Aleh Hulak and Ales Byalyazki . Also the offices of government-critical media like Belsat TV andEurapejskaje Radyjo dlja Belarusi and the human rights organization Charter 97 were stormed by the KGB. Charter 97 staff were arrested. Various oppositional websites were blocked. Access to Facebook , Twitter , YouTube and Google Talk was also no longer possible on the day after the election.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung : Christmas with Lukashenko , September 14, 2010.
  2. ↑ AHP : Палітрада Аб'яднанай грамадзянскай партыі назвала свайго кандыдата ў прэзідэнты
  3. ↑ David Marples: Sannikau Throws His Hat in the Ring ( English ) The Jamestown Foundation - Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 7 Issue: 56 March 23, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  4. ↑ ЦИК: за Лукашенко проголосовало 79.67% избирателей , The Central Electoral Commission: 79.67% of the voters voted for Lukashenko
  5. ↑ svaboda.org: НІСЭПИ: за Лукашэнку - 51.1% , NISEPI: 51.1% voted for Lukashenka
  6. ↑ NEWSru.com : Кремль готов "предать гласности" обещания Лукашенко признать Южную Осетию и Абхазию
  7. ↑ NEWSru.com: Канал НТВ в "Крестном батьке - 3" объявил Лукашенко психопатом
  8. ↑ NEWSru.com: http://newsru.com/world/12jul2010/lukaout.html
  9. ^ RIA Novosti: Belarus before the elections: Demos in Minsk prohibited . RIA Novosti. November 23, 2010. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  10. ^ Swiss radio SR DRS: Belarus: Demonstrators demand fair elections . Swiss radio SR DRS. November 24, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  11. ↑ gxs / dapd: Belarus: Opposition opposes ban on demonstrations . Focus . November 24, 2010. Retrieved December 27, 2010.
  12. ↑ Russia News: Demo in Minsk: Presidential candidates threatened with expulsion . Russia News. November 24, 2010. Retrieved November 25, 2010.
  13. ^ Paul Flückiger: Belarus: No other choice . Daily mirror. December 21, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  14. ^ A b Benjamin Bidder: Riots in Belarus: Lukashenko's thugs stifle hope for reform . Mirror online. December 20, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  15. ↑ Reporters Without Borders: ROG condemns violence against media workers after presidential election . Reporters without borders. December 20, 2010. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  16. ↑ Viasna: Criminal case on mass riot: 32 accused and 16 suspects . Human Rights Center Viasna. January 18, 2011. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
  17. ↑ Interim results of a survey of citizens who were detained during a peaceful protest on Dec. 19, 2010 . International Observer Mission of the Committee of International Control Over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus. Accessed on January 31, 2011.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / eurobelarus.info  
  18. ↑ Charter'97 : Prosecutor's office sees no problem in preventing lawyers from visiting their clients . charter97.org . January 15, 2011. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
  19. ↑ Belarus: Amnesty calls for freedom for prisoners of conscience . Amnesty International . January 12, 2011. Accessed December 24, 2017.
  20. ↑ Statkevich on hunger strike, refuses to speak during interrogations . naviny.by . December 22, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  21. ↑ BELARUS - MYKALAU STATKEVICH . Amnesty International . March 2014. Accessed December 24, 2017.
  22. ^ Belarusian president pardons six opposition members DW, 23 August 2015.
  23. ^ Oppositionists mistreated . Amnesty International . March 2014. Accessed December 24, 2017.
  24. ↑ Andrej Sannikau . palitviazni.info. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  25. ↑ Uladzimir Niklajeu . palitviazni.info. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  26. ↑ Local election observation of the presidential elections in Belarus 2010 (newsletter) . European exchange / human rights activist for free elections. Archived from the original on January 7, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 31, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.european-exchange.org
  27. ↑ Blatant Fraud in Minsk: 480 ballots missing from ballot box . spring96.org. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  28. ↑ PRELIMINARY report of independent observation . spring96.org. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  29. ↑ Guido Westerwelle: DEBATE: Open breach of law. In: Focus Online . January 3, 2011, accessed October 14, 2018 .
  30. ↑ Belarus Sevodnja: За кулисами одного заговора
  31. ↑ Narodnaja Wolja: Германия опровергает обвинение в подготовке госпереворота в Беларуси ( Memento from January 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  32. ↑ Nascha Niwa : Забарона на ўезд шэрагу беларускіх чыноўнікаў у Польшчу ўжо дзейнічае
  33. ↑ Bundestag: End of repression in Belarus called for
  34. ↑ EU imposes sanctions against Belarus ( English ) German wave. February 11, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  35. ↑ US toughens sanctions over 'brutal' Belarus crackdown ( English ) BBC. January 31, 2011. Accessed February 6, 2018.
  36. ↑ Why Lukashenko is no longer a dictator . The world. February 16, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  37. ↑ Kidnapping of Hanchar and Krasouski: authorities have something to hide on charter97.org
  38. ^ New Prime Minister: Lukashenko occupies government . n-tv. December 28, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
  39. ↑ Выборы президента Белоруссии признаны свободными и демократичными (The Belarusian presidential elections were recognized as free and democratic) ( Russian ) Пеovet.Rсru. December 20, 2010. Retrieved on December 27, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@2Vorlage:Toter Link/postsovet.ru  
  40. ↑ Stephan Malerius: TORTURE IN PRISON IN MINSK KGB . Konrad Adenauer Foundation. March 4, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  41. ↑ ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS DECEMBER 19, 2010 . Human Rights Defenders For Free Elections. February 11, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  42. ↑ Michael Schwirtz: Clashes in Belarus Show Resilience of Both Sides , New York Times . December 21, 2010. Archived from the original on December 22, 2010. 
  43. ↑ Belarusian KGB Crackdown Continues , TheNews.pl, December 27, 2010
  44. ↑ Хакерская атака главного оппозиционного сайта Белоруссии осуществлялась из Петербурга , Gazeta.ru. December 19, 2010. 
  45. ↑ Facebook, Twitter, YouTube blocked in Minsk , Interfax-Ukraine. December 20, 2010.