Yabloko has been barred from taking part in the regional assembly elections in Sverdlovsk region by a ruling of the Sverdlovsk Regional Court. The court granted the request to annul the party’s list of candidates running in the elections.
The case was opened following an application by the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR). The LDPR accused Yabloko of copyright infringement, using election funds above the prescribed limits and sharing content on banned platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
Yabloko challenged the allegations
Konstantin Kiselyov, who heads Yabloko’s candidate list in Sverdlovsk region, said the allegations could also be directed at other parties taking part in the elections. During the hearing, Kiselyov said other parties and their leaders were also present on banned social networks, while official state institutions operated on those platforms.
Yaroslav Shcherbakov, a Yabloko member in Sverdlovsk region, accused the LDPR of openly advocating the removal of its political rival. Yabloko’s Yekaterinburg branch announced that it would appeal the court’s ruling.
Sverdlovsk became the fifth region where Yabloko’s candidate list for regional assembly elections was excluded from the race as a result of court rulings or rejections by local election commissions.
State Duma list also banned
Before the Sverdlovsk ruling, Russia’s Supreme Court rejected Yabloko’s latest appeal against the nationwide ban on its list of candidates for next month’s State Duma elections. The ruling by the Sverdlovsk Regional Court followed that development.
Yabloko risks losing its official registration if it is unable to nominate candidates in at least 20 percent of regional assembly elections or 10 percent of gubernatorial elections over a seven-year period. This assessment is attributed to exiled journalist Farida Rustamova.
