A Moscow court on September 15 rejected an appeal filed by the co-chairman of the Golos movement, Grigory Melkonyants, against his pretrial arrest. Melkonyants was placed in pretrial detention last month until at least October 17 on a charge of "running an undesirable organization," which carries a sentence of up to six years in prison. Police searched the Moscow office of Golos and the homes of the movement's members in Moscow and other parts of Russia on August 17. Established in 2013, Golos has monitored elections in Russia and other countries since the early 2000s. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
