Press Release, 4.08.2026

Photo: Petrozavodsk City Council

Karelian Yabloko has filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Karelia against the ruling of the Petrozavodsk City Court of 31 July. It should be noted that a judge of the Petrozavodsk City Court had found lawful the refusal to register Yabloko’s candidates for deputies of the 13th convocation of the Petrozavodsk City Council. The actual decision to refuse registration had been taken by Territorial Electoral Commission No. 1 on 25 July.

Karelian Yabloko has described the ruling of the court of first instance as unlawful, unfounded, and subject to annulment.

“The grounds for the refusal [to register the Yabloko party’s candidates] were the Electoral Commission’s finding that the first financial report had been signed by an allegedly “unauthorized” person, since M.E. Kokochev’s power of attorney contained no “explicit authorisation to sign the first financial report”. By its ruling of 31 July, the Petrozavodsk City Court of the Republic of Karelia refused to satisfy the administrative claim, upholding the Electoral Commission’s position. We consider the court’s ruling to be unlawful, unfounded, and subject to annulment, owing to an incorrect determination of the circumstances relevant to the case, a discrepancy between the court’s conclusions and the circumstances of the case, the incorrect application and interpretation of substantive law, and a material violation of procedural law, on the following grounds,” runs Yabloko’s appeal filed with the Supreme Court of Karelia.

The appeal places particular emphasis on the violation of the party’s right to rectify the defect, had one in fact existed.

The Yabloko party is being represented in court in this case by lawyer Andrei Malafeyev. He is also a candidate for deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation on the Yabloko’s federal list in regional group No. 14 (the Republic of Karelia and Vologda Region), a candidate for deputy of the VIII convocation of the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia for constituency No. 3 (Petrozavodsk); and a candidate for deputy of Petrozavodsk City Council (constituency No. 6).

“We draw attention to the fact that the ruling of the Petrozavodsk City Court has not entered into force. All candidates remain in the running! This ruling does not affect candidates for deputies in single-mandate constituencies,” the Karelian branch of the party stresses.