Local council in Russia faces dissolution for demanding Putin's resignation

The Smolninsk District Court in St.Petersburg has ruled in favour of the dissolution of local council in Russia after council members demanded resignation of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the Ukraine war and western sanctions.

Reuters reported quoting one of the deputies Nikita Yuferev that the judge decided that a series of past council meetings had been invalid, paving the way for it to be broken up by the regional governor. 

The Court fined council member Dmitry Palyuga for 47,000 roubles ($780) for discrediting the authorities by calling for Putin's removal, the publication reported.

Smolninsk Municipal Council appealed to the State Duma to bring charges of state treason against Putin and strip him of power, citing a series of reasons including Russia's military losses in Ukraine and the damage to its economy from Western sanctions, Reuters reported.

The Odessa Journal reported The Prosecutor's Office of St. Petersburg appealed to the court with a demand to dissolve the Council of Deputies as early as 2021, on the pretext that the Council had not met for more than three months.

The plea remained motionless until the Council approached the State Duma demanding the impeachment of Putin.

Reuters reported Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying that critical points of view were tolerated, within the limits of the law.

Ksenia Thorstrom, a St Petersburg local councillor told the publication that it was too early to say how the campaign would turn out.