Investigators get interested in ballot stuffing in Kalmykia

The spokesman of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF) has informed about the start of checking the video record of the incident at the elections to the People's Khural of Kalmykia. The female-observer, who shot the video, is out of contact for the second day, the office of the regional branch of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" (Fair Russia) Party informs.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 9, Kalmykia elected its MPs to the People's Khural (parliament).

The video posted on the YouTube "Ballot-Stuffing, Republic of Kalmykia" shows how a woman and a man, in the presence of another woman, are stuffing the ballot box with packs of ballots. According to Natalia Manzhikova, the head of the regional branch of the above party, the video was filmed by a girl-student of the Kalmyk State University (KSU), who was then threatened with expulsion.

Employees of the division for the investigation of especially important cases have begun checking the video shot at the polling station, Evgenia Perfilieva, the head of the press service of the ICRF's branch for Kalmykia, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Last night, Ms Manzhikova sent applications to Kalmyk's Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) and the Prosecutor's Office asking to ensure safety of Aisa Khulaeva, the author of the video.

The application, a copy of which is available at the "Caucasian Knot", says that Khulaeva is out of contact for the second day. "It's impossible to get through to her; her phone is off. She is not in the hostel either," says the application.

Sergey Mironov, the Chairman of the "Spravedlivaya Rossiya" Party, has demanded from the Russian Interior Minister, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, to protect Aisa Khulaeva. According to his story, after her complaining about the violation at the polling station, Khulaeva was detained; and the KSU threatened to expel her.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 10, 2018 at 04:37 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.