Russia’s parliamentary election was marred by over 3,600 violations the country’s top independent monitor Golos reported after a decisive win for the government. Ruling party United Russia won a record number of seats, in an expected victory by unexpected margins. Its new electoral chief hailed the vote as the cleanest in Russia’s history and, despite monitors noting violations were fewer than in previous occasions, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) stressed the vote was still hampered by challenges to “fundamental freedoms and political rights” and “numerous procedural irregularities” during counting.

 

Moscow court found popular Russian blogger Anton Nosik guilty of posting online extremist materials and fined him 500,000 rubles (some $8,000) on Oct. 3. According to investigators, Nosik published a blog post titled "To wipe Syria off the map" on Oct. 1, 2015 with the purpose of inciting ethnic hatred. "The court found Nosik guilty of violating Part 2 of Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code (inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity)," the judge said.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed the head of the association for the protection of family, Anna Kuznetsova, as his plenipotentiary for children’s rights, replacing lawyer Pavel Astakhov. Before the appointment, Kuznetsova, 34, worked as the head of the Pokrov fund for the support of family, motherhood and childhood in Penza Region, central Russia. She also headed the Penza regional branch of the Mothers of Russia movement and the regional branch of the United Public Front movement. The newly appointed ombudsman has also held places in the women’s council with the regional governor and the regional public chamber.

 

Russia&rsquo;s parliamentary election was marred by over 3,600 violations the country&rsquo;s top independent monitor Golos reported after a decisive win for the government. Ruling party United Russia won a&nbsp;<a href="http://europe.newsweek.com/putins-record-parliamentary-win-comes-record-low-turnout-500068?rm=eu">record number of seats</a>, in an expected victory by unexpected margins. Its new electoral chief hailed the vote as the cleanest in Russia&rsquo;s history and, despite monitors noting violations were fewer than in previous occasions, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (<a href="http://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/russia/265071">OSCE</a>) stressed the vote was still hampered by challenges to &ldquo;fundamental freedoms and political rights&rdquo; and &ldquo;numerous procedural irregularities&rdquo; during counting.
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Moscow court found popular Russian blogger Anton Nosik guilty of posting online extremist materials and fined him 500,000 rubles (some $8,000) on Oct. 3. According to investigators, Nosik published a blog post&nbsp;titled "To wipe Syria off the map"&nbsp;on Oct.&nbsp;1, 2015 with the purpose of inciting ethnic hatred. "The court found Nosik guilty of violating Part 2 of Article 282 of the Russian Criminal Code (inciting hatred or enmity, as well as humiliation of human dignity)," the judge said.
&nbsp;
Russian President Vladimir Putin has appointed the head of the association for the protection of family, Anna Kuznetsova, as his plenipotentiary for children&rsquo;s rights, replacing lawyer Pavel Astakhov. Before the appointment, Kuznetsova, 34, worked as the head of the Pokrov fund for the support of family, motherhood and childhood in Penza Region, central Russia. She also headed the Penza regional branch of the Mothers of Russia movement and the regional branch of the United Public Front movement. The newly appointed ombudsman has also held places in the women&rsquo;s council with the regional governor and the regional public chamber.
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Get all the news you need to know each day with Bongani Bingwa’s Breakfast Show. Stay updated on developing stories and hear from the newsmakers making headlines as well as ordinary listeners affected by the stories.

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