"Pooty Poot" and illegal election campaigning in Russia

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Prosecutor's Office: Putin Innocent
By Vladimir Kovalev
STAFF WRITER

Neither President Vladimir Putin nor his representative office in the Northwest Region have broken election laws, the Northwest Prosecutor's Office says.

The finding flew in the face of complaints by candidates in the St. Petersburg gubernatorial elections and local politicians that top officials, including Putin, have campaigned for Valentina Matviyenko, the presidential representative in the Northwest Region.

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Markova's lawyers say Putin violated Article 48.8 of the election law, which says "Persons working as category A staff ... are banned from election campaigning on television and radio channels and in printed media outlets, except when the person is registered as a candidate for a State Duma seat or for other elected positions."

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"We don't intend to prosecute a Russian citizen called Vladimir Putin. We want him, as president, to explain why he does not trust St. Petersburg citizens to decide by themselves who to vote for. If he doesn't, we want him to say why to the public."

http://www.sptimes.ru/archive/times/905/top/t_10457.htm