Press Release, 13.08.2019

Photo: Sergei Mitrokhin at the mass rally for fair elections in Sakharov Prospect, August 10, 2019.

“The Moscow City Court made a decision that upheld Mitrokhin’s administrative claim, overruled the decision of the district electoral commission not to register him as a candidate, and ordered the district electoral commission for elections to the Moscow City Duma of the 7th convocation to register Mitrokhin as candidate for deputy in single-mandate constituency No. 43,” Ulyana Solopova, Press Secretary of the court told Interfax. According to her, “the court’s decision is to be executed immediately”.

According to Maria Chuprina, head of Sergei Mitrokhin’s election headquarters, the District Electoral Commission should, within 24 hours after the court ruling, meet and decide on the registration of Sergei Mitrokhin as candidate for deputy of the Moscow City Duma. Chuprina noted, that the time of the meeting is still unknown.

Mitrokhin is running in single-mandate district No. 43, which includes Arbat, Presnya and Khamovniki districts. Mitrokhin collected the number of signatures necessary for registration, however, like other independent candidates, he was not registered in the elections due to the fact that the electoral commission of the district rejected more than 10 per cent of the signatures permitted as default.

Mitrokhin challenged this decision in the Moscow City Electoral Commission, which overruled the decision of the district electoral commission and ordered it to consider the issue of registration once again. However, the district electoral commission again refused to register Mitrokhin. Then Mitrokhin appealed the repeated refusal of the district electoral commission to the Moscow City Court.

Sergei Mitrokhin was born in Moscow in 1963. In 1994-2003 he was Deputy of the State Duma, in 2005-2009 – Deputy of the Moscow City Duma. Currently, he heads the Legal Aid Center “Capital” (Stolitza), which is engaged in protecting the rights and interests of Muscovites. From 2008 to 2015 – Chairman of the Yabloko Party, from 2015 – Member of the Party’s Federal Political Committee.

It should be noted that only three of eight candidates from Yabloko, who were able to collect the required number of signatures, were registered in the election. These are Yevgeny Bunimovich, Commissioner for the Children’s Rights in Moscow (Electoral District No. 6 – Golovinsky, Levoberezhny, Khovrino, and part of Western Degunino districts), Maxim Kruglov, expert of Yabloko’s Anti-Corruption Policy Centre (Electoral District No. 14 – Alekseyevsky, Butyrsky, Maryina Roshcha, Ostankinsky and Rostokino districts) and Architect Daria Besedina (Electoral District No. 8, – Airport, Voikovsky, Koptevo and Sokol districts).