Supreme Court rejects appeal by Yekaterina Duntsova against electoral commission decision

Russia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from politician Yekaterina Duntsova against the Central Election Commission (CEC) for refusing to register her as a candidate in next year’s Presidential Election, Telegram channel Beware, News reported Wednesday.

The CEC voted unanimously to reject Duntsova’s candidacy on 23 December, saying it found over 100 errors in the documents she had provided. Duntsova argued that the CEC decision broke the law as the errors it found did not constitute legitimate grounds to reject her candidacy.

The ruling was made by Judge Oleg Nefedov, who last month ruled that the LGBT community was an extremist organisation.

Duntsova announced that she would create her own political party in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. “We need to act to make our voice heard. We are here! There are many of us! And we will gain the right to live without fear, speak freely and be confident in our future!” Duntsova wrote on her Telegram channel.

Duntsova also signalled that her team would be prepared to help opposition politician Boris Nadezhdin collect the necessary signatures to support his run, should he be allowed to register his candidacy.