PARIS, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Russian parliamentary elections that the country’s ruling United Russia party were easily on track to win did not meet the conditions for free elections, France’s foreign ministry said on Monday, adding that the organisation of elections in occupied Ukrainian territories constituted another violation of international law.
“Heightened repression against civil society and the opposition, the exclusion of several political parties, growing restrictions on freedom of expression and the banning of independent media have undermined the Russian people’s ability to freely form and express their choice,” the ministry said in a statement.
(Reporting by John Irish and Makini Brice)
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