Navalny to make statement over running in elections

Alexei Navalny will make a statement over his running at the Moscow mayoral elections, after he discusses the current situation with his election staff, State Duma deputy Dmitry Gudkov, who visited Navalny at the detention centre in Kirov, told Itar-Tass on Thursday. “As for the mayoral elections, he will make a separate statement over this issue, after he discusses the current situation with his election staff,” Gudkov stated. In the words of the lawmaker, Navalny and another convict in the Kirovles criminal case Pyotr Ofitserov “are being kept in the solitary cells, in adequate conditions, the attitude of the employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service is normal.” Navalny did not file an official written statement to drop the oppositionist from the Moscow mayoral race, though “a preliminary decision was made to withdraw from the election race in case of a real term in prison,” head of Navalny’s election staff Leonid Volkov explained to Itar-Tass before. “But it is incorrect to say that Navalny withdrew his candidacy, before his official written statement was filed in the elections commission,” Volkov noted in comments on the words of Navalny’s press secretary Anna Veduta, who stated to reporters that the oppositionist will not run in the Moscow mayoral elections. Earlier on Thursday, the Kirov District Court sentenced Navalny to five years in prison over the Kirovles criminal case, and Navalny was taken in custody in the courtroom. On Wednesday, the Moscow City Elections Commission officially registered Navalny as a candidate for the post of the Moscow mayor, the Moscow mayoral elections will be held on September 8.