Clearing the Election Field: How Politicians in Russia Are Being Disqualified from Running for Office Due to Archived Photos of Navalny and Facebook Links
A large-scale campaign has been launched in Russia to bar independent candidates from the upcoming elections through protocols for "displaying extremist symbols." To block opposition politicians, security forces are using archived footage from many years ago, including photographs of Alexei Navalny, footage from his funeral, and links to banned social media.
The scale of the purge: 21 politicians off the ballot
To date, at least 21 politicians have been publicly reported to have been officially disqualified from running due to accusations of "displaying extremist or Nazi symbols," according to journalists from the publication Novaya Evropa. Such administrative protocols have become the primary tool for the extrajudicial elimination of undesirable candidates.
Specifically, in 15 cases, opposition politicians were issued administrative penalties for publishing archival photographs of Alexei Navalny, videos from his funeral, and symbols of the opposition leader's campaign headquarters and the "Smart Voting" project. In most cases, the administrative penalties were issued for posts made several years ago.
Additionally, in five other cases, independent candidates were charged with using generic Facebook and Instagram logos, as well as publishing direct links to social media sites banned in Russia. In one case, a candidate was fined for a cartoonish image of Adolf Hitler with a crossed-out swastika. Such fines and arrests automatically bar them from participating in elections for an entire year.
The Yabloko Party and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation are under the brunt of the security forces' attacks.
Consequently, Yabloko party representatives were most often targeted for harassment with the aim of preventing them from participating in the elections. Among them were Yegor Tkachenko, leader of the party's youth branch; Maxim Petlin, chairman of the Yekaterinburg branch of Yabloko; Emilia Slabunova, a member of parliament from Karelia; and Anatoly Nogovitsyn, chairman of the Yakut regional branch.
However, the systemic opposition was also caught in the purge. Four Communist Party members from Leningradskaya and Orenburg were barred from participating in the upcoming elections.
