In Saint Petersburg, request for referendum on naming bridge after Akhmat Kadyrov repeatedly rejected

In Saint Petersburg, the City Election Commission (CEC) has for the second time rejected the initiative group in consideration of an application for a referendum on the naming the bridge over Dudergof Canal after Akhmat Kadyrov. The Commission has pointed out to the errors in the application.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 30, with a margin of two votes, the Toponymy Commission of Saint Petersburg initiated a proposal to name a nameless bridge in the Krasnoselsky District after Akhmat Kadyrov. This decision was criticized by culture figures; and protests were held in the city. However, on June 16, Georgy Poltavchenko, the Governor of Saint Petersburg, signed a decree on naming the bridge after A. Kadyrov.

On June 8, Boris Vishnevsky, a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg submitted to the CEC an application to conduct a city referendum on the above issue. However, the application was not registered. The refusal was motivated by the lack of evidence of the fact that the initiative group had actually held a meeting.

On August 2, the City Election Commission refused the deputies in consideration of their second application filed in late July.

"The passport information of one of the members of the initiative group was presented incorrectly. Besides, the number of those who voted at the meeting does not match the number of the participants of the meeting of the initiative group," claims the CEC concerning the new application of the initiative group as quoted by the "Interfax".

According to Boris Vishnevsky, the application had confused the date of issue of the passport of one of the applicants: instead of January 13, the date of January 31 was stated. The new application to the City Election Commission will be prepared this week.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.