MOSCOW, June 19 - RAPSI. The European Court of Human Rights has dismissed a complaint on discrimination during the parliamentary elections in Russia in 2003.
The Communist and Yabloko parties complained about the supposedly biased television coverage of the elections and said United Russia enjoyed the most TV advertising.
Prominent Russian politicians - Vladimir Ryzhkov and Irina Khakamada were among the claimants. They said media were forced by the ruling party to show other candidates in a negative light.
They also challenged the fairness of the courts, which held against their motion to cancel the election results.
The parties asked the Strasbourg court to recognize that their rights for free and fair elections had been violated.
However, the court found no signs of a violation and ruled against the complaint.