icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
30 Jul, 2021 12:06

At least ten Communist supporters arrested at Moscow protest after former presidential candidate barred from running in election

More than ten supporters of Russia’s Communist Party have been arrested in central Moscow after staging a protest against the authority’s decision to bar a popular politician from running in upcoming parliamentary elections.

Pavel Grudinin, the party’s former presidential candidate, was refused permission to participate after testimony from his ex-wife alleged that he had undeclared foreign assets.

In response, Grudinin’s supporters gathered near the building of the Russian presidential administration for an unauthorized protest. OVD-Info, an opposition-linked rights group that has received Western funding in the past, reported that at least 18 Communist Party supporters were arrested.

Also on rt.com Russia is becoming ‘fascist’ state due to political ‘repression’ & ‘cannibalistic’ reforms, veteran Communist leader tells Putin

Among those detained are parliamentary candidates Ivan Menshenin and Pavel Ivanov.

On Monday, Russia’s Central Electoral Commission declared that Grudinin had broken the rules about holding foreign assets. According to Russian electoral law, candidates must close accounts located abroad before being nominated and must no longer keep money or valuables in foreign banks located outside the country.

Grudinin, who came second in the 2018 presidential election, is the director of Lenin State Farm, a 2,000-hectare sprawl of land growing fruits and vegetables on the outskirts of Moscow. His considerable personal wealth has not only made him a controversial figure outside the party, but also within, with some Communists believing he is too bourgeois to be its candidate.
Following the decision to bar Grudinin, party leader Gennady Zyuganov slammed the move as “illegal, unlawful and abnormal.” Grudinin himself denies the accusations.

If you like this story, share it with a friend!

Podcasts
0:00
24:55
0:00
28:50