Even authoritarian systems have occasional slip-ups. One example came on August 26, when Magistrate Judge Semyon Lomazov acquitted Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov of “illegal campaigning” and held that he broke no laws by urging residents of St. Petersburg to vote against then Governor Valentina Matviyenko in municipal “elections.” Nemtsov had called on democracy supporters to vote “against all” by spoiling their ballots, as no opposition or independent candidates were allowed to participate in the poll. The acquittal was based on a 2005 ruling by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation that upheld the legality of self-funded “against all” drives during election campaigns....
Article: http://www.worldaffairsjournal...
