Russian justice minister seeks wider range of grounds for NGO checks

June 12, 2013 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Nonprofits, Activists, NGO's, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

(Interfax – ST. PETERSBURG, June 11, 2013) Russian Justice Minister Alexander Konovalov has supported the need for a new bill, which is currently being debated, to provide a wider range of grounds permitting inspections of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country.

“The bill that broadens the range of grounds for such inspections is in the stage of preliminary debates at the moment. In our opinion, the number of grounds can certainly be expanded for a number of objective reasons. There are no politics involved in this matter,” Konovalov told journalists in St. Petersburg on Tuesday.

This bill will certainly be adjusted during further debates, the minister said.

NGO heads ought to have a clear understanding of why their organizations can be inspected, Konovalov said.

“All efforts to arrange such checks should be well-coordinated, concrete, understandable and transparent for non-governmental organizations. It should be clear to everyone what factors could lead to an unplanned inspection of an NGO,” the minister said.