In a continuing crackdown on groups opposing the rule of Russian president Vladimir Putin, a Russian court has banned all groups formed by jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, a man who was poisoned by a Soviet-era chemical weapon, the Associated Press reports.
The Moscow City Court ruled no member of Foundation for Fighting Corruption, a group founded by Navalny, can seek public office in local or federal government in Russia. Allies of Navalny had planned to run for parliamentary offices in elections scheduled for September.
The move continues a campaign by Putin, oftentimes done through Putin-appointed judges, to shut out any political opportunity for Putin’s opponents to gain traction in political races. Earlier this year, a different court banned membership in a group called Open Russia, prompting its members to disperse and its leader to flee to Warsaw out of concern for his safety.
Navalny was arrested in Russia upon his return from Germany, where he had sought treatment after being poisoned by a toxin, believed to be novichok, a Soviet-era creation unavailable outside Russia. Navalny has been jailed at Pokrov correctional colony in Vladimir Oblast, a prison facility in western Russia. Navalny’s imprisonment has been decried by international rights groups and Western governments.
Navalny’s associates, however, state that their efforts will continue. “Navalny’s team will not stop its activities, they shouldn’t hope for that,” Ivan Zhdanov, a top Navalny associate who headed his foundation who lives abroad, told the independent Dozhd TV.