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Rights defenders
give conflicting accounts of election violations
Timur Aliyev,
North Caucasus –
Some observers and
human rights activists believe that violations during the presidential
election in Chechnya were negligible, and they said as much at a press
conference at the Chechen Election Commission in Grozny on October 6.
“We visited
several electoral districts and did not notice serious violations,”
said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, chairwoman of the Moscow Helsinki Group.
“The ones
we spotted were minor and could not have influenced the results of the
election.”
When a correspondent
from the “Al-Jazeera” agency asked about a poster of Akhmat
Kadyrov posted on the wall in one district, even though an election
law stipulated all such materials had to be removed on election day,
the chairman of the Election Commission responded incongruously that
“had the poster been lying on the ground it would have been in
violation of the law, but on the wall ... there are lots of things.”
According to observers,
there were other infringements than simply posters lying on the ground.
Human rights activist
Antuan Arakelyan from the “Strategy” centre said that “I
went to several election districts and perhaps 50-60% of people voted,
but surely not 80%."
Sergey Shimovolos,
program coordinator of the Moscow Helsinki Group added: “In the
town of Shali, after the local election commission chairman came by
delivering sealed boxes to the local administrative head, they went
inside and locked the door. Wouldn‘t you agree that this is a
violation?”
(H/E,T)
Chechnya bombed and "cleansed"
On the night
of 12 October, Russian military aircraft subjected forested heights
close to the settlement of Bamut (Achkhoj-Martanovsky region) to extensive
bombardment. According to local residents, the airstrike proceeded
for about one hour.
Furthermore,
SNO press center reported on 11 October that an explosive device was
detonated under a Russian military vehicle in the Staropromyslovsky
area of the capital, Grozny. As a result, there were some casualties
among the soldiers on board. Some time afterwards, a large group of
Russian soldiers arrived at the scene, blocked the road, and conducted
a so-called "zachistka". Information about those detained during this
"special operation" was not available at the time of going to press.
[14.10.2003
18:04] Prima News Agency
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