The Novosibirsk Election Commission banned showing a picketer wearing a vest with the inscription “Putin is Russia’s trouble”

The election commission of the Novosibirsk region banned the publication of a photograph of a picketer who, on the eve of Vladimir Putin's arrival at Novosibirsk Akademgorodok, went out into the street in a vest with the inscriptions "Putin is Russia's trouble" and "Putin is a bad president."

The picket was reported by the local publication Academ.info, which published an article under the heading “A resident of Akademgorodok went on a picket against Putin on the day of the president’s visit.” The publication published photos of the picketer.

On February 9, the day after Putin's visit to Novosibirsk, the election commission sent a letter to the editorial office of Academ.info. It states that the picketer's vest is illegal campaigning. After receiving the letter, the editors of the publication closed the inscriptions on the pictures in their note.

The picket in Academgorodok was held by Igor Prosanov. At the end of January, he staged a similar action in another district of Novosibirsk. In connection with this action, the police appealed to the election commission with a request to clarify whether the vest with the inscription "Putin is Russia's trouble" is campaign material.

The election commission answered the police in the affirmative. The commission concluded that Prosanov was engaged in "activities that contribute to the formation of a negative attitude of voters towards the candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation, Putin."