Grozny ignores parliamentary election - Memorial

The Human Rights Centre Memorial says that, counter to expectations of the human rights defenders who had predicted relatively high attendance in Grozny in connection with possible support of candidates by their relatives or fellow villagers, attendance in the capital of Chechnya was much lower than in the previous elections. "All day long, the usually busy centre of the capital remained empty; the chairmen of commissions at all polling stations visited by Memorial officers also complained about low activity of voters," says a press release mailed to Caucasian Knot.

"The human rights defenders had to admit that the majority of the population of Chechnya's capital has ignored the elections to the republican parliament. Moreover, Memorial officers have been able to register obvious gaps between the voter figures given by commission chairmen and observers from political parties," the human rights defenders report.

According to Abdulkhamid Yakh'yaev, an electoral commission chairman, 400 electors voted at station No 361 (on the premises of a temporary accommodation point for refugees) by 11.00 a.m. According to observers from political parties who counted every voter, the people who dropped ballots into the ballot boxes numbered 45.

One hundred and ninety-eight people voted at station No 369 (75 Griboedov St) by 12.00 a.m., said commission chairwoman Malika Bashayev. Meanwhile, Yabloko observers say that 75 voted.

Two hundred and seventy people voted at station No 380 (school No 48) by 1.00 p.m., according to the information provided to Memorial by commission chairwoman Alpatu Munayev, while observers say that just 146 voted by 2.15 p.m. The total number of voters at this station is 1,468.

Two hundred and thirty-six people voted at station No 379 (school No 14) by 2.30 p.m., according to chairwoman Elizaveta Davletmurzayev's information. When giving these figures to a Memorial officer, the commission chairwoman saw other officers of the human rights centre talk to observers. According to the observers who lost count "per head," it was 200 (plus or minus 5-10 voters).

One hundred and seventy-eight people voted at station No 377 (school No 7), according to chairwoman Emila Daulakov's information. The voters totalled 100, according to observers.

It should be noted that the Memorial officers monitored the parliamentary elections in the most densely populated districts in Grozny.