Russia: Moscow attacks an election monitoring NGO one month before the legislative elections
A Russian voter slips his ballot into a ballot box in St. Petersburg.
(Illustrative image).
AFP - OLGA MALTSEVA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Golos, the emblematic NGO monitoring elections and defending voters' rights has been, since Wednesday August 18, considered a foreign agent by the Russian authorities.
A qualification that will hamper its activities in the context of the legislative elections in September.
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With our correspondent in Moscow
,
Jean-Didier Revoin
It was known that no observer from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe would be involved in next month's elections, but as of today, the activities of the only independent NGO which monitors the electoral process in Russia will be complicate.
In Russia, foreign agents have to go through tedious administrative procedures and clearly indicate this status in all their publications, whether it is a media outlet, an organization or an individual.
Funded from abroad
The Russian authorities accuse Golos of not being registered with them, of being financed from abroad and of carrying out political activities in Russia.
Grigori Melkoniants, co-director of Golos, denounced an attack on the larger community of independent election observers and an attempt to prevent Russian voters from exercising their rights.
But that does not mean that it will give up its activities.
Frauds denounced in 2011 and 2012
Founded in 2000, Golos made a name for himself by denouncing fraud during the 2011 legislative elections and during the 2012 presidential election, marking the return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin.
►Also read: Russia: the authorities have undermined the right to demonstrate, believes Amnesty International
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