9 June 2014 Source: HRO.org ( info) Five days after President Putin signed into law the bill allowing the Ministry of Justice to classify non-profits as ‘foreign agents’ without either their consent or a court order, the Ministry has entered five non-profit organizations into the register of ‘foreign agents,’ Russkaya planeta reports, citing Interfax. The list of ‘foreign agents’ published on the website of the Ministry of Justice is as follows: - Golos Association for the Protection of Voters’ Rights (Moscow),
- The Regional Golos Organization for the Protection of Democratic Rights and Freedoms (Golos),
- Kostroma Centre for the Support of Civic Initiatives
- Centre for Social Policy and Gender Studies (Saratov),
- Union of Women of the Don (Novocherkassk, Rostov region)
The new law empowers the Ministry of Justice to independently inspect non-profit organizations that have not declared themselves to be ‘foreign agents’ and to begin the process of registering them as ‘foreign agents’. |