![]() Under existing laws, being involved in a group considered "undesirable" by the state is a criminal offence. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison.įounded in 2000, Golos is considered the only Russian election monitoring body that is completely independent of the Kremlin. Grigory Melkonyants, the co-chair of the Golos watchdog, is facing charges of "organising activities for an undesirable group", according to his lawyer. They argue the country's loyalist security forces, controlled media and pliable opposition factions" have left the Kremlin "able to manipulate elections and suppress genuine dissent."Īuthorities have helped make that case today, after launching a criminal investigation into the head of Russia's leading election watchdog. US-based democracy thinktank Freedom House conclusively labelled Russia's elections "not free" last year. The question of whether Russia's democratic processes are free and fair has bounded around for years - and the international consensus is that they are not.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |