13 May 2013 

Source: Movement to Save Khopyor 

On the evening of 13 May, local residents taking part in a peaceful protest camp in Novokhopyor district against unlawful attempts to begin geological surveys at the Elan deposit by the Mednogorsky Copper-Sulphur Plant (Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company) were brutally beaten. The protestors were peacefully standing in front of the illegally erected fence. Staff of the 'Patrol' private security firm first opened the gates, and then began to beat the activists. They seized three people, dragged them inside the fenced-off area, at the same time pushing back other activists and the police. Having shut the gates, they collectively beat the activists behind the fence, a number of whom them later threw over the two-meter high metal fence. [Read more]

Source: Youth Human Rights Movement

Harassment of non-profit organisations, primarily those dealing with human rights and civic issues, has begun in Russia in recent months under the "foreign agent" law passed in the summer of 2012. A massive campaign against NGOs began in March with inspections led by public prosecutors, who by the end of April had progressed to opening administrative cases and issuing notices and warnings to organisations refusing to register as "foreign agents". 

We are following the situation closely as it develops and have decided to prepare a running list of the organisations currently being subjected to this harassment (see below). [Read more]

30 April 2013

Source: For Human Rights 

Human rights defender Lev Ponomarev has refused to take part in a court hearing at which he faced charges for failing to provide materials to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. On 30 April Justice of the Peace Aleksei Dmitrievich Gorodilov, of Moscow judicial district No. 383, heard the administrative case against Lev Ponomarev, executive director of the Foundation for Protection of Prisoners’ Rights. The Moscow Prosecutor’s Office called for human rights defender Lev Ponomarev to be fined under Article 17.7 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation for refusing to provide the Public Prosecutor’s Office with materials required from the organization. [Read more]

The Union of Journalists of Russia with deep regret announces that on 8 April 2013 our colleague and journalist, Mikhail Beketov, the founder and chief editor of the newspaper Khimkinsakya Pravda, died. [Read more]