Russian Supreme Court rules that ex-Navalny staffer was unlawfully barred from seeking election nomination

The Russian Supreme Court ruled on Monday, October 4, that election officials unlawfully rejected a former Navalny staffer’s application to open an electoral account for collecting signatures for nomination to the State Duma.

District election officials in Moscow barred Oleg Stepanov — the former head of Alexey Navalny’s Moscow campaign office — from seeking nomination back in June. Election officials cited Stepanov’s ties to Navalny’s outlawed Anti-Corruption Foundation (the FBK) and a new law banning citizens involved in the activities of illegal “extremist” organizations from running in elections in Russia.

In turn, Stepanov argued that the decision was illegal since the court ruling outlawing the FBK as “extremist” had not in fact entered into legal force at the time. The Russian Supreme Court agreed with Stepanov in its ruling.

“Similarly, there was no basis for not admitting other candidates on similar grounds,” Stepanov’s team underscored on Twitter. “The Collegium of the Supreme Court confirmed that we were all removed from the elections unlawfully.”

However, the Supreme Court dismissed Stepanov’s cassation appeal as a whole, on the grounds that the court ruling outlawing the FBK as “extremist” entered into force on August 4 — after he filed the appeal. Stepanov intends to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

• On June 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the so-called “anti-FBK law,” banning people involved in the activities of outlawed extremist and terrorist organizations from running in elections in Russia at all levels.
• Russia held elections at various levels, including elections to the State Duma, from September 17–19. A number of candidates linked to jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny were prevented from putting their names on the ballot on the basis of the “anti-FBK law.”