COPENHAGEN, 27 September 2012 – The OSCE PA today welcomed the release of political prisoner Siarhei Kavalenka of the Conservative Christian Party Belarusian Popular Front. The release follows Kavalenka's plea for pardon, made several weeks ago to the President of Belarus. "We welcome the news of Kavalenka's release but remain strongly concerned about the fate of others still serving harsh sentences, like Ales Bialiatski and Zmitser Dashkevich

WARSAW, 25 September 2012 – OSCE PA President Riccardo Migliori issued the following statement today regarding arrests of Georgian opposition figures and civil society activists in the lead-up to the country's parliamentary elections on 1 October. "With less than one week to the important parliamentary elections in Georgia, I am very concerned with recent reports by media and civil society groups of numerous arrests of activists associated with

RFE/RL 25 September 2012 The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says it has "serious concerns" over weekend parliamentary elections in Belarus in which not a single opposition candidate won a seat in parliament. The OSCE said on September 24 that the poll was "not competitive from the start." "Many democratic rights" were not respected, the group's observers said in a statement. Most opposition parties had pulled their

Civil.ge 25 September 2012 OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Riccardo Migliori expressed concern over arrests of opposition activists in lead up to the October 1 parliamentary elections. "With less than one week to the important parliamentary elections in Georgia, I am very concerned with recent reports by media and civil society groups of numerous arrests of activists associated with the opposition," Migliori said in a written statement on

Associated Press 24 September 2012 By YURAS KARMANAU MINSK, Belarus (AP) — International vote observers condemned parliamentary elections in Belarus as lacking in competition and said Monday that potential candidates were denied the right to speak, organize and run for office. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in its assessment of Sunday's election that the vote did not meet international standards. Belarus'

Washington Post 24 September 2012 International observers on Monday condemned a weekend vote in Belarus in which not a single opposition politician won a parliament seat. The election looks set to deepen the former Soviet nation's diplomatic isolation. Critics also said the 74.3 percent turnout reported Monday by the country's Central Elections Commission chairman was way too high and indicated widespread fraud. The main opposition parties,