The Supreme Court of Russia on May 25 ordered [11] the liquidation of the People's Freedom Party [12] (PARNAS) at the request of the country's justice ministry, according [16] to state news agency TASS. The Ministry of Justice contended that the number of the party's regional offices dropped by seven, from 47 to 40, and law requires parties to have representative offices in half of the regions of the Russian Federation. According to the independent Mediazona, [17] whose reporters were in the courtroom, PARNAS leaders responded that the party still had 44 offices, and was only considered out of compliance with the law because the court counted Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine as Russian administrative regions [13].
PARNAS, a registered party since 2012, was founded by Boris Nemtsov, who was killed [18] in 2015, and former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov. The party is harshly critical of Putin's regime and aims to "restore democracy and respect for the Russian Constitution." PARNAS is a member of the Alliance of Liberals for Europe [19], and has joined coalitions with other pro-democratic parties in Russia. Two PARNAS activists, Vladimir Kara-Murza [20] and Ilya Yashin [21], are in prison for their opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian State Duma made it harder for political parties to be registered in 2007, which led to the liquidation [22] of 16 out of 33 parties.
From Jurist [23], May 27. Used with permission.
Note: Russia officially has 89 administrative regions (formally "federal subjects" or "federal constituent entities"—oblasts, republics and krais), but six of these (Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson) are illegally annexed Ukrainian territories.
See our last reports on Russian annexation [24] of Ukrainian territory, the assassination of Boris Nemtsov [25], and the unfolding police state [26] in Russia.
