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Kremlin vows relevant agencies will scrutinize Navalny’s 'voter strike' calls

Russia’s Central Election Commission refused to register a group of electors in support of Navalny's self-nomination due to his criminal record

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. Blogger Alexey Navalny’s exhortations to hold a so-called voters’ strike in connection with the decision by Russia’s Central Election Commission to bar him from the presidential race are bound to be checked by the relevant agencies, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He stressed that the Kremlin would not comment on Navalny’s statement on preparations for the January 28 protests as part of a "strike." "We have the relevant agencies, which check such appeals and intentions for complying with the law. There is no doubt that this will be done," Peskov indicated.

Russia’s Central Election Commission earlier refused to register a group of electors in support of Navalny's bid as an independent presidential candidate due to his criminal record.

Under Russian legislation, participation in the election is prohibited for anyone who has been sentenced to a prison term for committing a felony and whose conviction has not been expunged by Election Day, and also for ten years following the lifting or expungement of a felony conviction (for 15 years for a first-degree felony).

Navalny and his brother Oleg were convicted for embezzling funds from the Yves Rocher Vostok company. Alexey Navalny received a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence, while Oleg Navalny was handed three and a half year term in a general-security colony.

However, Navalny has announced his plans to take part in the presidential campaign claiming that under the Russian Constitution only those who are serving out their sentences in penitentiaries are stripped of the right to run for public office.