vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #540 / Crime watch / Reading article...

Dmitry Fotyanov, a candidate running in Mayoral elections on October 22 in the small northern Primorye town of Dalnegorsk, was shot dead on Thursday, three days prior to the elections.

Local police stated that an unidentified attacker fired three shots at Fotyanov, 31, from a Kalashnikov gun on Thursday morning while the candidate was leaving his office, Vostok Media news agency reported. Fotyanov was rushed to the hospital where he died from fatal gunshot wounds.

Police are holding a search operation for the assailant.

Fotyanov was to take part in the second round of Mayoral elections scheduled this Sunday. He had collected 9,486 votes during the first round of elections on October 8 and had come neck to neck with his rival Alexander Terebilov, who had gathered 9,850 votes.

Fotyanov had participated in last year’s Mayoral elections in Dalnegorsk on October 30, and won the election collecting 45 percent of the votes. However, he was dismissed from the position after three months due to Primorye's court ruling which found that Fotyanov had paid for favorable votes during the elections.

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A story about Fotyanov’s dismissal from Mayor’s post can be found at
http://vn.vladnews.ru/Arch/2006/ISS505/News/upd15_1.HTM