On November 13, POSTV, a media outlet pursuing a pro-government editorial policy, published a photograph showing activists and opposition representatives holding sheets of paper with round red marks on them. “I wonder what this could mean?” reads the caption on the information card.
POSTV is spreading photo fabrications and gender disinformation about the women’s protest. In reality, the sheets of paper held by the protest participants featured round black, not red, marks. The symbol is associated with a violation of the secrecy of the vote.
On November 13, a women’s protest titled “Let’s reclaim our voice!” took place near the building of the Central Election Commission (CEC). The protesters were holding sheets of paper with round black marks on them. The protesters want to submit complaints to the CEC about the violation of the secrecy of the vote. It is this violation that their protest banners are linked to – organizations point out that marks from markers were visible on the reverse side of the ballot papers, which led to lawsuits filed by observer organizations and opposition parties.
Photos and videos from the protest at the CEC were shared by the media (1; 2; 3). All of them show that the round marks on the sheets of paper held by participants in the protest are black, not red, meaning that the information card published by POSTV is a photo fabrication.
Archive of POSTV’s post
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