Five years in jail for Russian presidential candidate?

The election campaign in Russia is reaching the finish line, but some of the candidates aren't only focused on the issues. On Tuesday, candidate Andrey Bogdanov and his Democratic party filed a lawsuit against candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky of the Liberal Democratic party.

“Let them complain. That's all they know how to do. Bogdanov is a PR expert. Let the Ministry of Justice deal with it. They don't like the Liberal Democratic party of Russia. So this is just another moronic thing they've done. When they don't like criticism, they run to the courts,” Presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovsky said.

But during the debate Vladimir Zhirinovsky showed what some call his true colors by first attacking fellow candidate Andrey Bogdanov's representative verbally and then physically.

Bogdanov's Democratic Party is not only suing Zhirinovsky but wants to see him go to jail.

“It falls under Article number 321 of the Criminal Code on hooliganism. The punishment for actions performed on political or ideological grounds is imprisonment for five years. We're going to push for this to happen,” Andrey Bogdanov said.  

The party is also claiming compensation for moral damage and will request that the State Duma Speaker strip Zhirinovsky of Parliament immunity and remove him from the post of Deputy-Speaker.

“The head of government cannot behave the way Zhirinovsky does. I am sure that my voters and voters in general know that the head of government cannot be this kind of person,” Andrey Bogdanov added. 

But Zhirinovsky's love of a good brawl is no secret to his supporters. He can't seem to keep his hands where they should be. And Bogdanov is hoping in the long run Zhirinovsky will have to answer for his actions.