Moscow court to consider political party's complaint over Justice Min

MOSCOW, August 16 (Itar-Tass) - Moscow City's Zamoskvoretsky district
court is due to hear a lawsuit wherein the claimant demands that the
Russian Justice Ministry's denial of registration of the People's Freedom
Party /PARNAS/ be recognized as illegitimate.
The court has accepted two similar lawsuits from the activists of the
right wing of the political spectrum.
The judges are expected to begin hearings of a lawsuit filed by
Vladimir Nebalzin, a co-chairman of the PARNAS branch in the Altai
territory, southern Siberia.
At the same time, PARNAS lawyer Vadim Prokhorov told Itar-Tass
preliminary hearings of the case he filed himself have been scheduled for
Thursday, August 18.
PARNAS's representatives say the document, in which the Justice
Ministry stated a refusal to register the party, contained a list of five
grounds for the denial of registration,
"We provide a well-substantiated analysis of all of them and show
graphically that the refusal was groundless," the party's co-chairman
Vladimir Ryzhkov said earlier.
He stated "the absence of illusions" among the PARNAS leadership as
regards a highly probable ruling of the court, yet by filing the lawsuits
the party would like to show its commitment to abiding by the law.
Ryzhkov admitted that PARNAS will not be able to take part in the
parliamentary election at the end of this year even if it wins in the
courtroom.
"The law on political parties requires registration of 53 regional
outlets," he said. "That's quite a job to do, it requires much spending
and much time."