Russia has barred a prominent communist from election. Pavel Grudinin, one of Russia’s best known politicians and a communist will not be running for the lower house of the Russian Duma on Saturday on grounds of owning shares in an off-shore company. This information is published by Deutsche Welle. Here is an excerpt:

Pavel Grudinin, one of the best-known communist politicians in Russia, was barred from running for the lower house of the Russian Duma on Saturday after the country’s electoral commission accused him of owning shares in a Belize-registered company.

Russian electoral law forbids candidates running in the parliamentary election from having offshore assets. The would-be lawmakers must close their deposit accounts in foreign banks by the time a candidate submits papers to run for office.

Grudinin is the latest in a line of opposition figures to be blocked from running for office, many of whom are associated with jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

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