Russia Bans Anti-War Candidate for President

[LadyTevar]

Russia bans anti-war candidate from challenging Putin

A former TV journalist who announced she would challenge President Putin in Russia's spring election has been barred from standing.

Independent politician Yekaterina Duntsova wanted to run on a platform to end the war with Ukraine.
But the electoral commission voted unanimously to reject her candidacy three days after her application, citing 100 "mistakes" on her form.
Ms Duntsova said she would appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.

The presidential election, which will be held in March 2024, is Russia's first since President Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.
The immediate slap-down of a Putin critic will be seen as evidence by some that no dissent will be tolerated in the campaign.
The head of Russia's electoral commission, Ella Pamfilova, said Ms Duntsova would not be allowed to progress to the next stage of gathering thousands of supporters' signatures.

Putin's really afraid of any challengers this time around.

[Ralin]

Was she actually a serious candidate or the Russian equivalent of the Green Party? If it's latter she could have been auto-pruned without Putin ever knowing she existed.

[Broomstick]

He's dictator and President for Life - he doesn't have to put up with nonsense like fair elections or dissent.

[LadyTevar]

He's dictator and President for Life - he doesn't have to put up with nonsense like fair elections or dissent.

But he's still trying to keep the veneer of elections, hell, he even just had the rules rewritten so it's a 6yr term

[Lord Revan]

He's dictator and President for Life - he doesn't have to put up with nonsense like fair elections or dissent.

Sure he's czar in all but title but he wants to keep the idea that he's the beloved leader of the people for propaganda purposes so that why the faux elections.

[LadyTevar]

Alexei Navalny Found in Artic Prison Camp

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has confirmed his arrival at an Arctic prison and said he is in good spirits.

His team had had no contact with him since 6 December, after he was moved from another jail to the east of Moscow.

But on 25 December Navalny's spokeswoman, Kira Yarmysh said that he had been found.

Considered Vladimir Putin's most vocal opponent, he has been imprisoned since 2021.

Navalny confirmed on Tuesday that he had been moved to the IK-3 penal colony, nicknamed "Polar Wolf", in the northern town of Kharp, some 1,900km (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.
IK-3, in the Yamalo-Nenets autonomous district, is seen as one of the toughest jails in Russia and most detainees held there have been convicted of serious crimes.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Navalny said he had been transported with "such precaution" and along "such a strange route" that he was surprised when he was told that his lawyer was there to see him, as he did not think he would be found before "mid-January".

"He told me that you had lost me, and some of you were even worried. Thanks very much for your support!" he wrote. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

Navalny had previously been held in Melekhovo, 235 km (145 miles) east of Moscow. He is facing a 19-year jail term, for founding and funding an extremist organisation - accusations he has always rejected as politically motivated.

He is only able to post on social media when he has access to his lawyers and last month three members of his legal team were themselves placed on a list of extremists.

Navalny suggested he had been moved first to the capital, then east to the Urals mountain region and again to the west, before being moved north of the Arctic Circle.

The US said that while it welcomed reports that Mr Navalny had been located, it remained "deeply concerned" about his wellbeing and conditions of detention.

Ms Yarmysh said Russian authorities were intent on isolating Mr Navalny and "trying to make his life as unbearable as possible".

"This colony is very distant, it is very difficult to access it and for lawyers, it will be very difficult to go there and to see Alexei," she added.

Navalny's aide Ivan Zhadov said the change of prison demonstrated how "the system deals with political prisoners, trying to isolate and suppress them".