Press Release, 13.08.2024

Photo: Maxim Kruglov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The First Court of Appeal in Moscow rejected the appeal of deputy of the Moscow City Duma Maxim Kruglov against the Moscow City Court’s decision to deny him registration as a candidate in the Moscow City Duma elections. The panel of judges needed no more than ten minutes in the deliberation room to make their decision, Kruglov said. The main argument of the judges, who ignored the lack of evidence of “invalid” voters’ signatures for Kruglov, was that there was “no reason not to trust the police”.

It should be noted that the current deputy of the Moscow City Duma, Maxim Kruglov, managed to collect over 5,000 signatures of Muscovites in support of his nomination in 18 days. The district electoral commission declared 1,037 signatures out of total 5,664 submitted as invalid, i.e., 18.3% of the total. Candidate Kruglov’s team filed objections to the final protocol of the electoral commission’s working group. According to experts from Yabloko, only 166 signatures, or 2.9% of the total, can be declared invalid. Such a percentage of defects would have allowed Kruglov to be registered as a candidate in the elections. However, the electoral commission refused to register Kruglov, ignoring written objections, and the Moscow City Court upheld the decision of the electoral commission at the hearing on 31 July.

“We will not give up and will definitely appeal to the Supreme Court. Muscovites must have the right to choose,” Maxim Kruglov said.

Maxim Kruglov campaigned under the general party slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire Agreement!”