Overview
- A Dolgoprudny court convicted Boris Nadezhdin Friday of displaying “extremist” symbols, fined him 1,000 rubles and barred him from collecting signatures to appear on the State Duma ballot.
- Russia’s Justice Ministry designated Nadezhdin a “foreign agent” earlier this month, a label that legally blocks him from holding public office and that his team says he will appeal.
- Police say the extremism case stems from a 2023 online interview in which Nadezhdin briefly showed a photograph of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the specific act used to justify the charge.
- Former pro‑Kremlin blogger Ilya Remeslo was detained on accusations of spreading false information about the military and is being moved to Moscow for prosecution after publicly denouncing President Vladimir Putin in March.
- Rights groups and reporters say these moves form part of a broader pattern of candidate filtering that pressures critics to leave, face health risks in custody, or be legally disqualified ahead of the September elections.