Opposition leader Navalny returns to Moscow, confirms bid for MayorJuly 20, 2013 - 13:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Convicted Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was freed by a court on Friday, July 19 pending appeal, arrived back in his home city of Moscow by train Saturday morning and announced he will run for mayor of the Russian capital in an upcoming election, RIA Novosti reported. "We will go to the elections and we will win," he said. “There is an election campaign ahead of us, seven weeks of pre-election battle,” he said, and thanked all his supporters, without whose support, he said, he and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov would not have been released. “We are a huge, powerful force. I’m very glad that we’ve started to recognize that force ourselves…I want to apologize to you for not believing so strongly in you,” he said, adding he would be in his campaign headquarters every day. He will run on behalf of the RPR-PARNAS opposition party. Police with loud-hailers ordered bystanders to clear the platform at Moscow’s Yaroslavsky rail station as Navalny’s train arrived, citing security concerns because an unattended object had been found. Navalny was sentenced to five years by a court in the city of Kirov on Thursday and fined 500,000 rubles ($15,150) on embezzlement charges, and put into temporary custody. He was released on Friday by the same court because his sentence will come into effect only ten days later. He is under orders not to leave Moscow until his sentence comes into effect. His defense intends to appeal the verdict. Navalny has consistently claimed the charges against him were a political vendetta by the government in response to his anti-corruption campaigning and other opposition activities, a charge the Kremlin denies. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | About 173 million drams and more than 30 beneficiary funds. "The Power of One Dram" is 4 years old In June 2020, the exclusive joint corporate social responsibility initiative of Idram and IDBank "The Power of One Dram" was launched. CSTO budget “to be adjusted due to Yerevan’s non-payment of contributions” The CSTO budget for the current year requires adjustments due to the refusal of Yerevan to pay their share of contributions. Russia sends note of protest to Armenia over envoy’s trip to Ukraine’s Bucha Russia has sent a note of protest to Armenia over the visit of Vladimir Karapetyan and Tigran Ter-Margaryan to Bucha. Armenia: Protesters march to parliament, some spend the night on street The protesters did not disperse despite heavy rain that began at around 2 a.m. local time. |