Yashin was not allowed to participate in by-elections to the Moscow City Duma

The Electoral Commission forbade Ilya Yashin to open an electoral account due to "involvement" in the activities of an extremist organization. The politician assures that his name is not mentioned in the court decision in the ban on the structures of Alexei Navalny.

On June 24, 2021, the election commission for by-elections to the Moscow City Duma in district No. 37 decided to refuse to issue permission to opposition politician Ilya Yashin to open a special electoral account. Thus, Yashin is not admitted to the elections. He announced this himself on YouTube.

The commission's decision was based on a ban on participation in elections, introduced the day before for persons "involved" in the activities of organizations recognized as extremist and terrorist.

Apparently, the decision is connected with the recognition of the Anti-Corruption Fund (FBK), the Fund for the Protection of Citizens' Rights (FZPG) and the headquarters of Alexei Navalny as extremist organizations. At the same time, according to the law, in order to deprive the passive electoral right of persons "involved" in the activities of banned organizations, a court decision that has entered into force and established this "involvement" is needed. According to Yashin, his name is not mentioned at all in the court decision to ban Navalny's structures. In addition, this court decision itself has not yet entered into force, although it is subject to immediate execution in terms of terminating their activities.

Note that we believe that there are no legal grounds for banning Navalny's organizations as extremist. You can read more about our position here . We also believe that the amendments prohibiting those "involved" in the activities of extremist organizations from participating in elections unduly restrict freedom of association.

Sources

• The Electoral Committee removed Ilya Yashin from the by-elections to the Moscow City Duma due to involvement in an “extremist organization” // Mediazone. 2021. June 25.
• Based on social media.