Thursday, November 30, 2017

Anti-Fraud Protesters and Observers Gassed Hours Before Release of Final Election Results


Anti-Fraud Protesters Face Police Repression in
Honduras as Juan Orlando Hernandez Desperately Clings to Power

Tegucigalpa, Honduras – Just before midnight on Wednesday, a crowd of several thousand anti-fraud protesters in Honduras - including numerous young children - was tear-gassed repeatedly by a military police tank and riot police outside of the INFOP – the building where all of the ballots and tally sheets from last Sunday’s elections are being stored and counted.

The incident took place three tense days after national elections left both sides claiming victory, but official initial results pointing to a five percentage point victory for the Opposition Alliance Against the Dictatorship’s candidate Salvador Nasralla. After several days delay, numerous irregularities and unexplained transmission outages, Wednesday afternoon official results began to show a slight advantage for the incumbent Juan Orlando Hernandez. With the electoral tribunal announcing that a final result would be released at 3am, thousands began to gather outside the site of the ballot-counting to protest against the attempt to steal their victory. When former President Manuel Zelaya arrived at the scene, the crowd surged forward and police began tear-gassing the crowd seemingly indiscriminately. Protestors fled running and clutching cloth to their faces and coughing. 

In the chaos, tear gas entered the warehouse and election observers were forced to flee, raising concerns about unattended ballots in an election already marked by charges of fraud, vote buying, intimidation, and repression.  

Video and photos of the protest and repression available here.














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