MOSCOW (AP) — A jailed leader of a prominent independent election monitoring group in Russia appeared in court on Wednesday as his trial continued on charges of organizing the work of an “undesirable” organization.
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia’s leading election watchdog Golos, faces up to six years in prison if convicted. He has rejected the charges as politically motivated. The case against him is part of the monthslong crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists that the government ratcheted up after sending troops into Ukraine in 2022.
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Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos, who faces up to six years in prison, stands in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, stands in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, looks at the media standing in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, is escorted to a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, stands in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Golos has monitored for and exposed violations in every major election in Russia since it was founded in 2000. Over the years, it has faced mounting pressure from the authorities. In 2013, the group was designated as a “foreign agent” — a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. Three years later, it was liquidated as a non-governmental organization by Russia’s Justice Ministry.
Golos has continued to operate without registering as an NGO, exposing violations in various elections, and in 2021 it was added to a new registry of “foreign agents,” created by the Justice Ministry for groups that are not registered as a legal entity in Russia.
It has not been designated as “undesirable” — a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense. But it was once a member of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, a group that was declared “undesirable” in Russia in 2021.
Independent journalists, critics, activists and opposition figures in Russia have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years that intensified significantly amid the conflict in Ukraine. Multiple independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled as “foreign agents” or outlawed as “undesirable." Hundreds of activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges.
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos, who faces up to six years in prison, stands in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, stands in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, looks at the media standing in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, is escorted to a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos who faces up to six years in prison, stands in a cage in a courtroom prior to a hearing in Basmanny district court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)
Wall Street ticked modestly lower early Wednesday following another plunge in Chinese markets over concerns about skimpier-than-expected stimulus spending out of Beijing.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell less than 0.1% before the bell.
Honda Motor Co. slid 1.6% after it announced a recall of 1.7 million vehicles related to steering problems that had been under investigation by U.S. regulators since early this year.
Oil prices that gained last week on a renewed intensity of violence in the Middle East have resumed a downward trajectory this week, bringing shares of energy producers down as well. Exxon, Chevron and ConocoPhillips all fell between 1% and 3% in premarket trading.
In China, details of economic stimulus plans from officials in Beijing have failed to live up to lofty expectations that had built up after the central bank and other government agencies announced various policies to help revive the ailing property market and spur faster economic growth.
The Shanghai Composite lost 6.6% to 3,258.86 after it gained 4.6% Tuesday as it reopened from a weeklong national holiday. The CSI 300 Index, which tracks the top 300 stocks traded in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, gave up 7.1%.
The benchmark in the smaller market in Shenzhen dropped 8.7%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed 1.5% to 20,618.79. That followed a plunge of more than 9% on Tuesday.
The government has set a target for about 5% annual growth this year, but the economy expanded at only a 4.7% pace in the last quarter and economists have been revising their estimates for the full year downward.
The moves announced in late September fueled a rally that has since fizzled. But analysts have pointed out that a news conference on Tuesday by China’s main planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, was unlikely to convey much information about government spending, which is the purview of the Finance Ministry.
That ministry is due to hold a briefing on Saturday that could provide further details on planned government outlays that so far have fallen short of what investors have been hoping for.
“A lack of new stimulus has been the cause of disappointment, with many market participants hoping that its fiscal policies will follow in the footstep of the financial ‘bazooka’ delivered in late-September, but there was clearly a step-down in yesterday’s announcement,” Yeap Jun Rong of IG said in a commentary.
The Shanghai Composite is still up 5.2% from a year ago and more than 10% in the past three months. Hong Kong's index is up nearly 18% from a year earlier.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index advanced 0.9% to 39,277.96. Shares of the Japanese retailer Seven & i Holdings gained 4.7% after media reported that Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard had increased its takeover bid by about 20%.
The Lower House of Japan's parliament was dissolved on Wednesday to pave the way for an Oct. 27 general election. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba hopes to consolidate support after taking office last week, amid signs the Liberal Democrats' ruling coalition remains shaky after Ishiba's predecessor, Fumio Kishida, stepped down following a slew of scandals among the party's lawmakers.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.1% at 8,187.40. South Korea’s markets were closed for a public holiday.
In Europe at midday, France’s CAC 40, Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE 100 all rose 0.3%.
Oil prices retreated even as Hezbollah fired another barrage of rockets into Israel on Tuesday which heightening concerns over escalating tensions in the Middle East. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 40 cents to $73.17 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 36 cents to $76.82 per barrel.
In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 148.68 Japanese yen from 148.20 yen. The euro was fairly stable at $1.0960.
Signs marking the intersection of Wall St. and Broadway in New York's Financial District are shown on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
The New York Stock Exchange, rear, is shown on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People stand in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People walk in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
