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Russian Court Bans Only Anti-War Party from State Duma Elections
🇱🇻 Latvia /Elections & Politics

Russian Court Bans Only Anti-War Party from State Duma Elections

From Delfi Latvia · () Latvian

Translated from Latvian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • A Russian court has disqualified the Yabloko party, the only anti-war party registered for the upcoming State Duma elections.
  • The court's decision, which favored a lawsuit by the populist Rodina party, cited alleged intellectual property rights violations.
  • Yabloko, running under the slogan "For Peace and Freedom," plans to appeal the ruling, while supporters chanted "Shame!" outside the courthouse.

Russia's judiciary has barred the Yabloko party, the sole anti-war political group registered for the upcoming State Duma elections, from participating. The decision came after a populist party, Rodina, filed a lawsuit, which the court ultimately upheld. Yabloko, campaigning with the slogan "For Peace and Freedom," has vowed to appeal the ruling.

The court's justification for disqualifying Yabloko centered on alleged intellectual property rights violations. Prosecutors cited instances such as the use of phrases from Soviet songs in an interview by former leader Grigory Yavlinsky, the use of AI-generated images from ChatGPT, and the publication of a U.S. Army photograph of Hiroshima. The party's logo, reportedly based on a 1920 poster by Soviet artist El Lissitzky, was also cited as an infringement.

Shame!

— Yabloko supportersChanted by supporters outside the courthouse after the court's decision to disqualify the Yabloko party from the elections.

Further complicating matters, a representative from Russia's financial monitoring service alleged that individuals on Yabloko's federal list had received funds from foreign sources. The party's lawyer, Khadzhi Aliyev, countered that the money was transferred as donations from Russian citizens who had themselves received funds from abroad, not directly from foreign entities. Supporters gathered outside the courthouse, chanting "Shame!" following the verdict.

There is reason to satisfy the claim.

— ProsecutorStated by a representative of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office in support of annulling the party's registration.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Delfi Latvia in Latvian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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