Communists supporters demonstrate in front of the Supreme Court of Russia, Jul 15, 2008. The sign reads "Our homeland is the USSR."
Photo: Dmitry Lekay
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Supreme Court Rebuffs Communist Challenge to Elections
The Russian Supreme Court has declared the parliamentary elections of December 2007 legal, ruling on a suit by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation against the Central Elections Commission demanding the election results be overturned. The court explains its motivation in its decision, but representatives of the communists say they will appeal the decision to the court’s appeals collegium.
The communists also cite reason for the illegality of the court’s decision. In particular, “In the course of the whole trial, we petitioned to subpoena 400 people as witnesses, but only one was called. In addition, we asked the court to call in all the parties that participated in the parliamentary elections in 2007 as third parties,” a communist party representative said. The communists consider the court’s decision not to subpoena Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin illegal as well.
The main statement in the suit was the material and facts of violations of the law the communists found in the course of the election. Those violations were divided into five groups: informing the voter, campaigning, those related to the United Russia Party’s mandate, complaints made on day of the election and the actions of the CEC.
www.kommersant.com
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