09 October 2003, 22:42
Press conference of MHG: elections in Chechnya - myths and reality
The activists of the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) human rights organization who were unofficial observers on the presidential elections in Chechnya hold a press conference at the Institute of Press Development on October 8.
From the very beginning of the press conference MHG Chairwoman Lyudmila Alekseyeva let the present know that the reality shown virtually in all media reports on the elections in Chechnya seemed to be too affected.
The fact itself that the elections were held under conditions of an armed conflict prejudices their free and democratic nature. As Lyudmila Alekseyeva said in her speech, Akhmad Kadyrov had no serious rivals. All the strongest contenders either left the presidential race themselves of were "legally" deprived of their right to take part in the elections, as it happened, for example, to Malik Saidullayev.
Then Lyudmila Alekseyeva shared her impressions of the trip to Chechnya, "...While we were coming though Chechnya up to Grozny, it seemed to us we were coming through a died out county. People were afraid of going out of doors."
Participants of the press conference told about various breached that, alas, had a place. Many electors voted instead of their relatives bringing several passports at once sometimes. There were voters who entered into polling-booths not one at a time. But the main thing is that the independent observers visited polling stations where a 29% or even greater attendance rate were recorded and saw only two or three people in an hour who came to vote.
The fact that all voting papers at some electoral districts were for Akhmad Kadyrov even though the attendance rate exceeded 80% also raises doubt that the past elections were "democratic".
Author: Roman Rostov, CK correspondent Source: Caucasian Knot
