Russia Approves Bill That Would Bar Critics From Contesting Elections

Russia: The bill would make it impossible to run in elections for leaders, sponsors and rank-and-file members of "extremist" organisations.

The upper house of Russia's parliament on Wednesday overwhelmingly backed legislation that is expected to be used to ban allies of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny from running in elections. The bill approved by the Federation Council would make it impossible to run in elections for leaders, sponsors and rank-and-file members of "extremist" organisations, a designation being considered for Navalny's organisations. A Russian court is considering whether to designate his political network an "extremist" organisation and could make a decision as early as next week. Kremlin critics say Russian authorities are widening a crackdown on the opposition ahead of parliamentary elections in September.