Putin foe Alexei Navalny opens presidential campaign office
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In this handout photo provided by Alexei Navalny press service Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, right, his former colleague Pyotr Ofitserov, left, and lawyer Svetlana Davydov, second left, sit in a courtroom in Kirov, Russia, Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017. A retrial of Alexei Navalny for alleged embezzlement continues in the provincial city of Kirov after the original 2013 guilty verdict was overturned by the Supreme Court. (Alexei Navalny Press Service via AP) (The Associated Press)
Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition figure, has opened his first regional office for a presidential bid, despite an imminent court verdict that could bar him from running.
Navalny, an anti-corruption activist and vehement foe of President Vladimir Putin, intends to run for president in 2018. But a court on Wednesday is to announce the verdict in his retrial on fraud charges. If convicted, his candidacy would be blocked.
Opening his campaign office in St. Petersburg on Saturday, Navalny claimed "the Kremlin will do its best not to let me participate in the election."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said that opening the office, which is to collect petition signatures for his candidacy, before the court verdict "is aimed at making them give me access to the election."