BPR Council: Belarus has no conditions to hold democratic elections

The Council of the Belarusian People's Republic (BPR) released a statement on the “elections”.

The Council of the Belarusian People's Republic says none elections can be considered to be legal and fair if basic democratic norms are not observed, an atmosphere of free expression is not created and all candidates, including representatives of the opposition, are not given equal conditions to carry out their election campaigns.

The BPR Council released the statement in connection with setting the date for the “elections” of the president of the Republic of Belarus.

“The BPR Council states that Belarus currently has no conditions to hold free and democratic elections:

– State-owned media, which perform propaganda tasks for the authoritarian regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka, prevail in the media space. Independent journalists, including journalists of Belsat TV, Radio Racyja and regional media, are under constant pressure from the authorities.

– Several political prisoners, including 2010 presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich, remain behind bars. Activist Yury Rubtsou was illegally thrown into prison for his political activity this year. The political prisoners who were released earlier have not been rehabilitated, which imposes serious restrictions on their public and political activities.

– Authorities continue to put illegal pressure on activists, politicians, civil and political organisations that criticise the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka.

The BPR Council states that the Republic of Belarus is an undemocratic country with the power monopolised by a group of people led by Aliaksandr Lukashenka and without institutions of political competition. Legally formed national law-making, executive and judicial bodies have been absent in the Republic of Belarus since 1996,” the statement says.

In this regard, the Council calls on the authorities of the Republic of Belarus:

– To guarantee citizens of Belarus democratic rights and freedoms enshrined also in the current legislation of the Republic of Belarus,

– To create conditions for holding proper free and fair elections and then carry out re-election to all government and local authorities bodies in line with legislation of the Republic of Belarus and international democratic standards.

“The BPR Council urges to immediately release and rehabilitate all Belarusian political prisoners: Mikalai Statkevich, Yury Rubtsou, Yauhen Vaskovich, Mikalai Dziadok, Ihar Alinevich, Artsiom Prakapenka, and to rehabilitate all political prisoners who were already released.

The BPR Council calls on the international community to continue putting pressure on the official authorities of the Republic of Belarus to make them respect human rights and take real steps for the democratisation of the political regime in Belarus,” the statement says.