Journalist complains a prosecutor’s office of an electoral commission

In the meanwhile, the constituency electoral commission was officially dissolved whereas the registered complaint from an independent journalist was left without a response.

A press photographer for the Brest Kurier newspaper Milana Kharytonava filed a complaint to the Brest-Zapadny number 1 constituency on 20 September. The independent journalist was not satisfied with the fact that she was prevented from fulfilling her professional duties during the early voting. At the polling station number 44 they forbade her to record an interview with one of the voters. The commission representatives explained their actions saying that a photographer is allegedly supposed only to make photos but in no way record people speaking.

Almost in a month Kharytonava found out that the constituency commission stopped existing on 18 October. She never received a respond to her complaint:

- I think that the fact that the constituency commission left me without a response is not a mistake, but that it was done intentionally. I know that they responded to my other colleagues. In my case they waited and waited until all the terms expired and the commission was dissolved. And what is it? Now they can’t respond to me! They violated the law about the citizens’ appeal and my rights to receive information, and they will keep trying to escape that.

Now the journalist is demanding the Brest prosecutor’s office to give a legal evaluation to the actions of the chairman of the constituency electoral commission, Euroradio reports.