In South Ossetia, three presidential candidates sign statement of fair elections

Today in the evening, in the state TV Channel air, three out of four candidates for presidency of South Ossetia signed a joint statement on holding free and fair presidential election.

Leonid Tibilov, ex-Chairman of the South Ossetian KGB, David Sanakoev, Ombudsman, Dmitry Medoev, Republic's Ambassador to the Russian Federation, and Stanislav Kochiev, the leader of the South-Ossetian Communist Party, will run for the presidency.

The candidates came out for fair and transparent election. "The principle of respect to all participants in the electoral process must be strictly observed," says the statement.

The statement has also recorded an obligation "to prevent spread of false information and false statements against each other, use of 'dirty' electoral technologies, use of administrative resources and benefits of official positions, manufacture and distribution of forged printed, audiovisual and other materials, discrediting honour and dignity of the candidates."

Three candidates Dmitry Medoev, David Sanakoev, and Leonid Tibilov put their signatures under the statement.

Ruslan Djioev, the candidate's trustee, explained the refusal to join the proposed statement also by the fact that in the draft document released by its headquarters on March 5, Stanislav Kochiev proposed to amend the text with the obligation of the winning candidate "if elected president, not to use repressive measures against political opponents, to stop the persecution of dissentients."

Furthermore, he considers it necessary to stop the political persecution of the oppositional leader Alla Djioeva and to guarantee her freedom to continue her political activities.

These expressions were not included in the final text of the statement, the RIA "Novosti" reports.