MOSCOW, February 20 (RIA Novosti) - A spokesman for the Romanov Family Association confirmed Monday that Russian prosecutors had refused to recognize Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family, executed by Bolsheviks in 1918, as victims of political repression.

Alexander Zakatov said that in response to a request from Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, who heads the Romanov association, to exonerate Nicholas II, the Prosecutor General's Office claimed, "there is no credible evidence proving the existence of any official decisions by judicial or non-judicial bodies to exert politically-motivated repression" against Russia's last monarch and members of his inner circle.

According to Zakatov, the lack of a reference to specific regulatory acts to substantiate the refusal suggests that the prosecutors' decision was "made based not on the law, but on some other considerations, unknown to us."

The request from Maria Vladimirovna, a daughter of the last grand duke in the Romanov dynasty, has yet to be considered by a high court, the spokesman said.

The Romanov Family Association advocates the revival of the Russian throne, suggesting that a new monarch should be elected by general vote of the Russian people, not necessarily from the Romanov-Gottorps.