The head of the precinct election commission No. 25 in Vitebsk, Sergei Pitalenko, confirmed to the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty that he rewrote the protocol of the presidential election at his precinct after the vote on August 9. According to him, according to the first protocol, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya really won. But, according to Pitalenko, the commission members were forced to enter "dictated" numbers into the new protocol.
Pitalenko said he signed the new protocol, but did not explain why he did it. He did not give any other details and declined to comment on the situation. According to him, not all members of the commission signed the new protocol. And the director of the school where the station was located, on the day of the election, wrote a letter of resignation.
"Everything is very seriously twisted there, who knows how it will end," he explained.
When asked whether it was true that the commission and Pitalenko personally were forced to rewrite the protocol by the head of the Oktyabrsky district of Vitebsk, Sergei Stashevsky, the head of the election commission replied that "everything is heard on audio".
We are talking about an audio recording that was posted online shortly after the election on August 9. On it, a person who is represented by the head of the Oktyabrsky district of Vitebsk, comes to the commission, where Svetlana Tikhanovskaya won at the site, and demands to explain "how it happened". After the members of the commission explain that such results have been obtained, he declares that he does not need "honest demarches", and demands to rewrite the protocol. In particular, "to radically change the numbers between the third and fourth candidates," that is, between Alexander Lukashenko and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya.
"I have a very tough proposal to change the protocol and radically change the numbers between the third and fourth candidates," says the person on the recording. – I am ready to agree that a sufficient number of people voted for Tikhanovskaya. But we have other tasks and other problems that need to be addressed. Let's address this issue. So that you don't stand out in the neighborhood here."
Radio Liberty correspondents were unable to contact Sergei Stashevsky: the administration claims that the official is on sick leave.
According to independent observers, Tikhanovskaya probably won the election against Alexander Lukashenko on August 9, or at least won enough votes to qualify for the second round. However, the CEC of Belarus announced that Lukashenko won with 80% of the vote, while Tikhanovskaya received only 10%.
Since the announcement of the election results by the CEC, protests have continued for the fourth day in Belarus. The authorities violently disperse the demonstrators, using water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas. According to the latest data, more than 6 thousand people were detained, many of them were severely beaten, including minors. According to official data, more than 250 people with various injuries were treated in hospitals. One person was killed during the protests.