Sobchak Complains to Supreme Court Presidium Against Putin’s Candidacy – Lawyer

On February 14, Sobchak, the candidate from the Civil Initiative party, filed a complaint with the court, in which she pointed out that Putin "has no right to be nominated" due to the fact that he has repeatedly held the post of Russian president. The court rejected the claim two days later, but Sobchak said that she would appeal the decision. On February 26, the court rejected the appeal and the ruling entered into force.

"Today, a supervisory complaint has been filed to the presidium of the Supreme Court on the recognition of Putin’s registration in the presidential election as illegal," Novikov said.

The lawyer noted that the complaint referred to a violation of federal law as Putin was not recognized as the interested party in the lawsuit.

It is not necessary for the president to attend the court hearing if he is recognized as the interested party as Putin could send a representative, Novikov added.

The Russian Constitution prohibits any person from serving as president for more than two consecutive terms. Putin was elected for a four-year presidential term in 2000 and then re-elected in 2004. In 2008, Dmitry Medvedev was elected president and appointed Putin as his prime minister. After Medvedev's time in office, during which the presidential term was extended to six years, Putin was elected once again in 2012. In December, Putin announced his intention to run for his fourth term.

READ MORE: Some 75% of Russians to Support Putin in Upcoming Vote – Poll

The Russian presidential election is scheduled for Sunday. Apart from Putin and Sobchak, there are six candidates running this year: Sergey Baburin from the All-People's Union party, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, Communists of Russia party chairman Maxim Suraykin, Presidential Commissioner for Entrepreneurs’ Rights Boris Titov, co-founder of the Yabloko party Grigory Yavlinsky, and head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky.