Moscow city officials have rejected opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s request to hold a rally in the capital on March 18, the day of Russia’s presidential elections.

Navalny was barred from participating in upcoming elections, which Vladimir Putin is expected to win, due to a prior criminal conviction for embezzlement that his supporters say is politically motivated. He has called for a boycott the elections in which authorities are hoping to secure a 70 percent turnout.