Tatarstan's Supreme Court Frees Navalny Campaign Coordinator In Kazan

Elvira Dmitriyeva appears in court in March.

KAZAN, Russia -- The Supreme Court of Russia's Republic of Tatarstan has freed the jailed coordinator of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny's presidential election campaign staff in Kazan.

A court in Tatarstan's capital had ruled on August 23 that Elvira Dmitriyeva violated regulations governing public gatherings by promoting a demonstration on the Internet and jailed her for 10 days.

But the region's high court threw the ruling out on August 25 and ordered further investigation.

Dmitriyeva's lawyer, Irina Gontsova, told the Supreme Court that her jailing violated rules because she is a member of a district election commission, and that the Internet post at issue was not a call to participate in a public gathering.

In the post, Dmitriyeva called on supporters to pick up leaflets at Navalny's headquarters in Kazan.

Dozens of Navalny campaign workers have been detained or questioned in Moscow and other cities in recent weeks.

Navalny is campaigning for the March 2018 presidential election, in which President Vladimir Putin is widely expected to seek and win a fourth term.

Russian election authorities have said that Navalny will be barred from the ballot because of a financial-crimes conviction that he says was engineered by the Kremlin to punish him for his opposition activity and keep him out of electoral politics.