Russia

Smena, the website that published the video of a woman stuffing a ballot box on 2 December, has now published more images filmed in the same polling station. This second video shows the fraudsters folding the voting slips before putting them in the box. The person in charge of Smena said that they didn’t publish this film before because they wanted to wait for the reaction and denial of the authorities first. They say that they have yet more videos proving fraud.

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Material compiled by our Russia observer, Allena Ponomaryova

Further possible proof of election fraud is emerging. Blogger Grigori Belonuchkin who was monitoring a polling station on the day, has revealed evidence that some documents sent to the electoral committee were fake. The papers, which had been modified to boost the count for President Vladimir Putin's party, were located and corrected. However, the blogger says that others had already been registered.
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Post your questions to our Russia observer, Allena Ponomaryova, or directly to Grigori (he speaks english).

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By Team Observers

This video, filmed on a mobile phone, was originally posted on www.smena.info, a site hosted by Smena, a relatively unknown Russian opposition group. It has since been snapped up by numerous television chains. It shows a woman stuffing a ballot box with voting papers at a polling centre. In the background, a man’s voice asks her, in Russian, to “turn over the ballot slip”. The rest is inaudible. At the end of the film, however, we hear the person who’s filming ask a guard: “Do you have any pistols? Which model?” The video is dated Dec. 2, Russia's parliamentary election day. But the tape date, and its authenticity, are yet to be verified. Our regional editor, Maria Antonova, and our observer Anastasiya Lebedev, will keep us updated.

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By Team Observers with reporting by observer Allena Ponomaryova

Shortly after his speech at a protest rally in Moscow on Saturday, Nov. 24, former chess champion and Russian opposition figure Garry Kasparov was arrested and detained for five days. The next day, the judge declined Kasparov’s appeal and pronounced him guilty of "organising an illegal march against President Putin" and "declining to comply with the policeman's repeated demands to stop". Witnesses at the rally share their videos, pictures and reactions with The Observers.

Post your questions to Allena Ponomaryova on her profile page.

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Material compiled by our Russian/ former-USSR regional editor, Maria Antonova

In September, President Putin's United Russia party launched a paper campaign across Russia. The slogan: "Putin's Plan - Victory for Russia" (Plane Puntina - Pobeda Rossii). Internet users react to these posters and booklets distributed in the street by members of the party.

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Tensions in Georgia reached boiling point on Wednesday 7 when President Mikhail Saakashvili declared a state of emergency following riot police clashes with demonstrators. The same day, the television station Imedi was shut down by the police for airing opposition speeches. Photos of the ransacked office are circulating online and bloggers are expressing their concerns about the presidents dictatorial moves.

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