By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Complaints of irregularities in Russia’s parliamentary elections need to be investigated but videos purporting to show fraud were not incontestable proof of cheating, President Dmitry Medvedev has said.
“As is customary following release of voting results, there must naturally be a judgement made on all violations” claimed during the vote, Medvedev said Tuesday.
However, the appearance of videos on various websites and social networks claiming to show evidence of vote-tampering does not in itself provide “incontestable” evidence of wrongdoing, the Russian president said.
“It is wrong to draw conclusions about whether the elections were clean or dirty on the basis of such evidence. This is not entirely fair,” Medvedev said.
His comments came amid protests in Moscow by opponents and supporters of the ruling United Russia party which has dominated Russian politics for years.
Opponents claim the elections to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, were marred by massive fraud that resulted in excessive support for United Russia.
They have backed their accusations with videos, most shot on mobile phones and posted on websites and they claim these prove large-scale wrongdoing throughout the vote.
Party supporters have acknowledged there were irregularities by “over-zealous” supporters but not in sufficient numbers to have made any meaningful difference to the outcome. They have asserted that the election was fair overall.