Russia Refuses to Register Opposition Party

The Russian Justice Ministry has refused to register the ROT-Front party for the fifth time, according to one of its leaders, Sergey Udaltsov. Udaltsov told Kommersant that the reason for this refusal was the party’s emblem, which is represented by a fist and the name of the organization (which happens to be the same as a well-known confectionary brand). The official statement from the Justice Ministry states, “The emblem of the party, a fist inside a star, symbolizes both a military component of the Soviet statehood and a fight against the existing order, which can be interpreted as a symbol of extremism.” Historically, Rot Front is a greeting used by members of the Red Front Fighters' League (Rotfrontkämpferbund), a paramilitary organization of the Communist Party of Germany engaged in fighting with the Nazis before being banned in 1932. The Rot Front confectionary company took its name from the German communists in Soviet times and kept it until today, with the management deciding not to rebrand a well-known trademark. http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/1620028 http://rt.com/politics/opposition-party-denied-connotations/