The Kremlin’s Red Line: Why Yabloko Had to Be Removed in a Hurry
Ksenia Smolyakova on why the authorities urgently struck Yabloko from the ballot
On August 7, the Rodina party filed a lawsuit aiming to invalidate the registration of Yabloko’s federal candidate list, a party advocating anti-war sentiments. By August 10, the Supreme Court agreed with the lawsuit and removed Yabloko from the election. The lawsuit, which was ready in advance, consisted of four main arguments.
The first argument dealt with "copyright infringement," making it one of the few grounds that would automatically disqualify a party or candidate from the ballot under Russian law. The claim was based on the party's website hosting various materials, including articles and publications, some of which dated back to 2012. However, most of these materials had no direct connection to the current election campaign.
The second argument claimed that Yabloko encouraged campaign support through social media, which was deemed improper campaigning without paying for it from their electoral fund. This argument was based on a 2005 Constitutional Court ruling, which stated that citizens' right to express their opinions during elections is an integral part of their active suffrage.
The third argument alleged that Yabloko's campaign materials contained extremist content, which could lead to their deregistration from elections, banning the party as an extremist organization, and even criminal prosecution of its members. The accusations included support for the "LGBT movement," violation of territorial integrity, and incitement against authorities and other political parties.
The fourth argument questioned whether some candidate documents were submitted within the required deadlines.
Written by urgent.news from Riddle Russia's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
