Supreme Court rejects another election appeal

2006-04-07 16:10

Minsk, 7 April. The Supreme Court of Belarus has rejected another petition to invalidate the results of the March 14-19 presidential election that gave Aleksandr Lukashenko a victory with 83 percent of the vote, citing "the lack of jurisdiction."
According to the Court, its decision is final and cannot be appealed.
The petition was filed by the National Club of Voters and the Belarusian Social Democratic Party "Hramada" (BSDP). They contested the central election commission's decision to declare the election legitimate.
Vladimir Gudeyev, chairman of the National Club of Voters, and BSDP First Deputy Chairman Anatoly Levkovich filed a complaint about the vote with the central election commission on March 20, but it was rejected three days later, when the final official election results were announced. They denounced the election authorities' decision as ungrounded and unlawful and appealed to the Supreme Court.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court rejected similar appeals by two former candidates Aleksandr Kozulin and Aleksandr Milinkevich, also citing the lack of jurisdiction to consider them.
Oleg Volchek, a legal expert with Dr. Kozulin's team, described the decision as absurd and unlawful. It shows once again that the Belarusian authorities do not care whether or not the international community will recognize the election as legitimate, he told BelaPAN.
"In our complaint, we specified the provisions of the constitution and the Electoral Code, on the basis of which we demanded that the Supreme Court should consider it. We also attached evidence of irregularities and frauds. I believe it is a farce. The chairman of the Supreme Court intentionally shies away from a decision in order not to bear the responsibility for declaring the election illegitimate," he said.