MOSCOW: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is gearing up to run for the presidency, is ineligible to stand for office, the country’s central electoral commission announced on Friday.

A firebrand speaker and anti-corruption campaigner with a savvy grasp of social networks, Navalny declared his intention last December to stand for president. He is already mounting a campaign to gain public support for a bid.

“Currently Alexei Navalny is not eligible to stand for office,” the commission said in a statement, noting that he is serving a five-year suspended sentence for embezzlement, which falls into the category of a serious crime.

Someone who is convicted of such a serious crime cannot stand for public office until 10 years after their sentence ends, the panel said.

President Vladimir Putin is expected to stand for a fourth Kremlin term in the March 2018 election, but has yet to confirm this. The nomination of candidates will begin this December.

The head of the electoral commission Ella Pamfilova earlier this month told the independent channel TV Rain that it would take a legal “miracle” for Navalny to be able to stand.

Navalny and his erstwhile business partner were convicted of embezzlement in 2013. Navalny was given a five-year sentence that was swiftly reduced to a suspended one.

The case, which Navalny and his supporters condemn as politically motivated, has seen a number of reversals.

The European Court of Hu­man Rights last year quashed the verdict, saying the men did not have a fair trial.

But the same Russian court held a retrial this year, issuing the same sentence. A regional court then upheld the sentence.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2017