Opposition leader Nemtsov fined $34 for ‘interfering’ in elections

A Moscow court has fined opposition leader Boris Nemtsov for calling on residents of St. Petersburg to ignore a vote that put the city’s outgoing governor on course to get the third-ranking job in Russia.

A Moscow magistrate ordered Nemtsov to pay 1,000 rubles ($34) in damages on Wednesday.

Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, was detained on August 14 ahead of a municipal vote that opponents claim was rigged to allow Valentina Matviyenko to become the speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament.

He had been calling on voters to “vote against all,” something police said was an act of “illegal propaganda.”

Nemtsov was acquitted later last month, but charges were brought against him again last week.

Matviyenko, a close ally of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, had been St. Petersburg governor since 2003.

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