The nationalist Rodina party has filed a lawsuit with Russia’s Supreme Court seeking to disqualify the liberal Yabloko party from upcoming State Duma elections, Rodina leader Alexei Zhuravlyov announced Friday.
“The Yabloko party are national traitors. These are people who work for the West and hold Western values,” Zhuravlyov told reporters outside the Supreme Court building. Without providing evidence, Zhuravlyov claimed his party had uncovered financial violations by Yabloko.
In response, Yabloko threatened to sue Zhuravlyov, who serves in the State Duma as a member of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party, for defamation over his remarks.
Russia’s Supreme Court confirmed receiving Rodina’s disqualification filing earlier on Friday.
The legal action follows a public clash between Zhuravlyov and Yabloko chairman Nikolay Rybakov during a Central Election Commission meeting last week.
