Lukin Reports Serious Electoral Violations in Astrakhan After Viewing Videos
Interfax - 4.20.12 - JRL 2012-74
ASTRAKHAN. April 20 (Interfax) - Electoral violations indeed took place in the mayoral elections in Astrakhan, but former candidate Oleg Shein (A Just Russia) needs to contest the election outcome in court, Russian human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said.
file photo"Serious violations were committed during the elections. These violations should be investigated in court. If need be, you (the hunger strike participants) can go to the European Court of Human Rights," Lukin told Interfax on Friday.
Lukin said he made this conclusion after viewing videos taken in Astrakhan polling stations.
Lukin said also he had a meeting with Astrakhan region Governor Alexander Zhilkin and head of the Interior Ministry department for the region Grigory Kulik. "Their position is that the conflict should be settled in court in line with the law," Lukin said.
The participants in a hunger strike told Interfax that A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov, who arrived in Astrakhan in the early hours of Friday, would stay in the city until Saturday and will take part in a rally for cancelling the election outcomes.
Oleg Shein, a former candidate in the March 4 mayoral elections in Astrakhan, and a number of his supporters have been holding a hunger strike since March 16. The strikers are protesting against what they see as major irregularities in the elections. It was officially announced that Shein had garnered about 30% of the vote, while Mikhail Stolyarov of the United Russia party won the election with 60% of the vote.
The Kirovsky District Court in Astrakhan accepted Shein's lawsuit on cancelling the election results on April 16. The court also accepted for consideration a hard disc carrying records from a number of video cameras installed at polling stations in the city, which the claimants believe can prove that the elections had been rigged.
Central Elections Commission (CEC) Chairman Vladimir Churov said at a press conference on Friday that CEC members did not find any facts of vote rigging in the videos. He acknowledged, however, that various vote-counting procedures were violated at most polling stations.
Keywords: Russia, Government, Politics - Russian News - Russia
ASTRAKHAN. April 20 (Interfax) - Electoral violations indeed took place in the mayoral elections in Astrakhan, but former candidate Oleg Shein (A Just Russia) needs to contest the election outcome in court, Russian human rights ombudsman Vladimir Lukin said.
file photo"Serious violations were committed during the elections. These violations should be investigated in court. If need be, you (the hunger strike participants) can go to the European Court of Human Rights," Lukin told Interfax on Friday.
Lukin said he made this conclusion after viewing videos taken in Astrakhan polling stations.
Lukin said also he had a meeting with Astrakhan region Governor Alexander Zhilkin and head of the Interior Ministry department for the region Grigory Kulik. "Their position is that the conflict should be settled in court in line with the law," Lukin said.
The participants in a hunger strike told Interfax that A Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov, who arrived in Astrakhan in the early hours of Friday, would stay in the city until Saturday and will take part in a rally for cancelling the election outcomes.
Oleg Shein, a former candidate in the March 4 mayoral elections in Astrakhan, and a number of his supporters have been holding a hunger strike since March 16. The strikers are protesting against what they see as major irregularities in the elections. It was officially announced that Shein had garnered about 30% of the vote, while Mikhail Stolyarov of the United Russia party won the election with 60% of the vote.
The Kirovsky District Court in Astrakhan accepted Shein's lawsuit on cancelling the election results on April 16. The court also accepted for consideration a hard disc carrying records from a number of video cameras installed at polling stations in the city, which the claimants believe can prove that the elections had been rigged.
Central Elections Commission (CEC) Chairman Vladimir Churov said at a press conference on Friday that CEC members did not find any facts of vote rigging in the videos. He acknowledged, however, that various vote-counting procedures were violated at most polling stations.