Amnesty Intl’s Russian office chief says may be summoned to prosecutor’s office

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – The head of Amnesty International’s Russian office Sergei Nikitin announced after police visited the office that he could be summoned to the prosecutor’s office soon.

Prosecutors, Justice Ministry and tax officials started an audit on several nongovernmental organizations on Monday, among them Amnesty International, Public Verdict and the Movement for Human Rights.

“They spent five hours in a row at the office and they seized two piles of about 200 documents in all,” Nikitin told Interfax.

“Inspectors asked to be provided with copies of the charter documents, including those of the head office, and with all of our accounts to the Justice Ministry, plus financial reports,” he said.

“I was asked to give verbal explanations. I refused. Then they told me they would call and ask to turn up at the prosecutor’s office. I said calls won’t do and they must send me an official subpoena. I said I will not come if called,” Nikitin said.

“It looks like they see a continuation to this story,” he added.