NEWSWATCH: “Kremlin Critic Alexei Navalny Vows to Fight On; As legal obstacles to opposition figure’s presidential run multiply, he says in interview ‘Kremlin will have no choice’ than to let his campaign proceed” – Wall Street Journal/ Nathan Hodge

“… Navalny has mobilized thousands of demonstrators across [Russia] to protest corruption under … Putin. Now he says he is pressing ahead with a quixotic effort to run against his country’s powerful leader in elections next year. … despite … serious legal obstacles …. he was found guilty of embezzlement by a court in Kirov … a verdict he said was politically motivated to keep him from running for public office. And on Wednesday, he lost a defamation case brought by Alisher Usmanov, one of Russia’s wealthiest businessmen, over … allegations … that Mr. Usmanov gave property to a foundation linked to … Medvedev. … Navalny said his main concern was that the Usmanov case would serve a pretext to further crack down on internet freedom in Russia. … “

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