Human Rights Activist Criticizes Draft Justice Ministry Order on NGO Register

MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) – The procedure for registering NGOs – foreign agents proposed by the Justice Ministry is comparable to Stalinist methods, head of the Agora human rights association Pavel Chikov said.

“The document forms are reminiscent of Soviet documents for confessing guilt of spying for the benefit of foreigners in the 1930s – when, where, under what circumstances, and for what purposes did you receive money from foreigners. Detailed addresses including the apartment numbers of every foreigner risking donating a kopeck for a good cause in Russia in our turbulent times,” Chikov told Interfax on Wednesday.

He was surprised by the fact that an NGO will be able to seek removal from the register of foreign agents no earlier than a year after stopping its activities.

“The Justice Ministry may even refuse to remove an NGO from the register. Moreover, the fact that an NGO used to be on the register some time in the past will remain in the ministry’s files forever,” Chikov said.

The situation is the same as with a criminal record, he said.

Chikov said that Agora will definitely use the opportunity to make proposals concerning the draft order. “Moreover, beginning with the very first day of its enforcement we will start actively testing it,” he said.