Moscow City Court upholds Gudkov's disqualification from Moscow Duma elections
MOSCOW. Aug 21 (Interfax) - The Moscow City Court has upheld opposition activist Dmitry Gudkov's disqualification from the Moscow City Duma election, an Interfax correspondent reported on Wednesday. The Russian Central Elections Commission had refused to register him as a candidate on August 6 on the grounds of lacking about 300 valid signatures in his support of his candidacy.
A representative of the Moscow Elections Commission asked the court to dismiss the claim, as it had been submitted past the deadline permitted by law. "It should have been lodged within ten days of the date of the District Elections Commission's decision [before July 26]," the representative said.
"Gudkov's claim is denied," the judge said. A representative of the Central Elections Commission and a prosecutor supported the court's ruling.
Meanwhile, Gudkov's lawyers referred to the Russian Supreme Court Plenary Meeting's resolution of 2011, which said that all decisions of elections commissions, up to the Central Elections Commission, must be considered as a single whole, which means the submission deadline was not missed.
The lawyers said they would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
"We will first appeal to the Supreme Court, then to the Constitutional Court, and after that to the ECHR," Gudkov's lawyer told Interfax.
Gudkov is serving a 30-day administrative arrest imposed on him by the Moscow Tverskoi District Court on July 30 for repeatedly violating demonstration rules, namely, organizing the July 27 rally without permission from city authorities.