| The head of the Moscow metro ordered election ads for
the opposition party Yabloko to be removed from stations and
then threatened to cancel a long-term contract with the advertising
company involved, the political group claimed.
In a statement posted on its web site Friday, Yabloko Russian
for apple said stickers reading: "Tired of vegetables?
Vote for YABLOKO" that were posted Nov. 2 to 3 at the
entrances to 85 stations were removed just days later.
The removal followed a letter from metro chief Ivan Besedin
to the advertising company Avto Sell, saying the notices "grossly
violated" conditions on political advertising, which
require prior approval by metro officials and City Hall's
media department.
When Yabloko resubmitted a new series of stickers to City
Hall with new slogans, including "Russia demands changes,
we will bring back your hope," media department head,
Vladimir Chernikov, said it was not his division's responsibility,
Kommersant reported.
Yabloko spokesman Igor Yakovlev told Kommersant that metro
officials then "made it clear" that "there
will be no campaign materials" for Yabloko in the stations,
or Avto Sell would have its contract terminated.
"I understand the resentment of Mr. Besedin who was
offended by the fact that a category of organisms, to which
he belongs, is featured as something people are fed up with,"
Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin said in the statement.
Calls to metro spokesman Pavel Sukharnikov and an e-mail
to Avto Sell went unanswered.
Earlier, metro officials refused A Just Russia and the Communist
Party permission to post campaign materials underground, citing
what the Communist Party called an "unofficial"
ban on political advertising in the metro, Kommersant reported.
Meanwhile, opposition activists in Chuvashia have filmed
what they called illegal campaigning by the ruling United
Russia party at the Chuvashia State University, whose deputy
dean arranged speeches of the party's candidates for students
and urged them to vote for United Russia, Dozhd TV reported
on its web site Friday.
See also:
The
original publication by the Moscow Times
Elections
to the State Duma 2011
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