Moscow rejects OSCE election criticism

Russia’s Central Electoral Commission on Thursday dismissed the OSCE criticism of the March 4 presidential election won by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as unfair, RIA Novosti reports.

OSCE and PACE observers said not all presidential hopefuls had equal access to the media while Prime Minister Putin had an obvious advantage, using government resources both on the federal and regional level.

“This conclusion… is not consistent with the facts,” the CEC said, adding that it could be regarded as an “encroachment on media freedom in the Russian Federation.”