Source: HRO.org (info), 03/07/12 

· Freedom of association  · Human rights defenders  · Persecution of activists  · Moscow City & Moscow Region 

Yury Kostanov: "Obviously, such practice cannot be enshrined in law. As regards human rights, there is no need to discuss them whatsoever, because in this legal relationship a person is not a subject in possession of equal rights but is an object of persecution by omniscient lawmakers and civil servants (who know better than the people themselves precisely who they are – spies, agents of influence and so forth, sabotaging the interests of the motherland)..." 

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I, Yury Artemevich Kostanov, an expert with the Independent Council for Legal Expertise, candidate of legal sciences and associate professor, State Law Adviser Grade 2 with 49 years and 8 months experience in the legal profession, including 24 years and 8 months in the Prosecutor's Office and 5 years and 8 months in the judiciary, have been invited to express my opinion regarding the draft of the Federal Law "On the introduction of changes to the separate legislative acts of the Russian Federation pertaining to the regulation of the activity of non-profit organisations which perform the functions of a foreign agent," introduced by State Duma deputies I.A. Yarovaya, A.L. Krasov, A.G. Sidyakin, M.E. Starshinov, A.L Shkhagoshev and V.A. Nikonov. Having studied the aforesaid bill, I have come to the conclusion that it is conceptually unsound, which in my view is grounds for its rejection by the State Duma at first reading. [Read more]