04 June 2004 03:36
Deputy Stripped of Duma Seat
A St. Petersburg court on Thursday ordered United Russia Deputy Alexander Morozov stripped of his seat in the State
Duma for bribing voters with free food and cosmetics, Interfax reported.
The St. Petersburg City Court ruled Thursday that Morozov, a local entrepreneur, broke the election law by handing
out packages of food and cosmetics to voters on the day of the election, March 14. The packages carried the logo of the
Nevsky charity, which Morozov founded.
Morozov promised to appeal.
"We believe the court decision is wrong because both the city court and the Supreme Court have rejected cases in
similar circumstances," he said. "And representatives of the prosecutor's office agree with us that the
facts listed in this case were not proved at the trial."
Morozov's victory had been challenged by three rival candidates, former St. Petersburg gubernatorial candidate
Anna Markova, local lawmaker Sergei Andreyev and construction engineer Elvira Sharova.
"The court proved today that the Constitution, not money, rules in our country," Markova said.
A spokesman for the Central Elections Commission, Artyom Suslov, said the ruling "shows that the law really
works." "The court had the right to make such a decision," he said.
Alexei Titkov, an elections and regional politics analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Thursday's ruling
is the first time to his knowledge that a Duma deputy has been ordered stripped of his seat over election
violations.
Courts, however, have voided the results of elections for regional legislative bodies quite a few times, he said.
Morozov had been declared the winner in St. Petersburg Polling District No. 207, a single-mandate district where
liberal politician Irina Khakamada won a Duma seat in 1999.
After Khakamada decided not to run from the district in December, voters showed their discontent with the
alternatives by giving a plurality 24 percent of the vote to "against all," beating out former figure-skating
world champion Irina Rodnina. Election officials then called for a new vote for March 14.
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[The Moscow Times] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
