The Supreme Court of Russia canceled on August 10 the registration of a key opposition party, Yabloko (Apple), for the upcoming elections to the State Duma, Russia’s lower parliament chamber.
Yabloko’s election slogans include “For peace and freedom! For life without fear!” as well as calls to preserve human life, respect, dignity and well-being. Its campaign has drawn support from Russia’s civil society, including youth and exiled opposition.
The Central Election Commission registered Yabloko on July 29 despite its open calls for an immediate ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine. This stance made it the only pro-peace political party out of 11 registered for the September elections. It is also one of modern Russia’s oldest parties that has participated in all parliamentary elections since 1993.
The pro-Kremlin party, Rodina (Motherland), filed a lawsuit on August 7 with the Supreme Court of Russia demanding it cancel Yabloko candidates’ registration. Rodina sought the cancellation by alleging that Yabloko committed copyright violations in its election campaign materials, had received foreign funding, and that its calls for peace and the end of politically motivated repression were “extremist.”
A day-long hearing took place at the Supreme Court on August 10, during which approximately 500 people gathered outside to express their support for Yabloko. The Supreme Court ordered the cancellation of Yabloko’s parliamentary elections registration stating that it had identified intellectual property rights violations—including using ChatGPT for image generation and using a phrase from a 1958 play—and that Yabloko had obtained foreign funding and exceeded the legally-mandated campaign spending limit. Yabloko officials have said the party is planning to appeal the judgement.
Yabloko and its members have faced persecution in the past. This year, the Russian authorities prevented Yabloko from participating in several regional and municipal elections.
There is no realistic prospect that the upcoming State Duma elections will be free and fair; robbing voters of a chance to express their position on war and human rights violations is a further blow to political participation and freedom of expression in Russia.
