Authorities might add Khodorkovsky’s civic organization to Russia’s list of ‘foreign agents’

Russia’s Justice Ministry has asked the Attorney General’s office to review the civic organization Open Russia’s compliance with laws regulating “foreign-agent” NGOs involved in social activism.

According to the newspaper Vedomosti, the Justice Ministry is responding to a request from Duma deputy Alexander Sidyakin, who recently asked officials to find out if Open Russia has any legal ties to Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s identically-named organization, and if so has it registered to be included on Russia’s list of so-called foreign agents. In his appeal to the Justice Ministry, Sidyakin said Open Russia might be a foreign agent, insofar as it apparently receives foreign funding and engages in political activity.

In its response to Sidyakin, Justice Ministry officials pointed out that social movements are not required to register with the state, though they do face a number of regulations, such as the need to have a director and a charter. Only the Attorney General, they say, is able to review civic organizations’ compliance with the law on foreign agents. The Justice Ministry says it’s already forwarded the request.

Vedomosti’s source in the Duma says lawmakers aren’t ruling out amendments to the notification procedure required to create social movements. “It’s impossible to recognize a social movement as an agent because they’re invisible to the Justice Ministry, because they don’t inform it of their existence,” a source told the newspaper.

Both the Justice Ministry and the Attorney General refused to comment about Open Russia.

• On its website, Open Russia describes itself as a social movement network initiated by Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In mid-April, police raided Open Russia’s Moscow office, claiming they’d received a tip that the organization was storing materials to disseminate at an unsanctioned opposition protest. Representatives of Open Russia denied these allegations.
• Russia’s law on foreign agents was adopted in 2012. It requires NGOs engaged in political activity and receiving foreign funding to register with the Justice Ministry as “foreign agents” and adhere to stricter government oversight. The Justice Ministry is also empowered to force NGOs to register on this list, when they refuse to do so voluntarily. Organizations designated as foreign agents that refuse to register with the Justice Ministry are subject to fines.
• The Justice Ministry has added nearly 60 NGOs to the list of “foreign agents,” including the Russian branch of Transparency International, the Sakharov Center, and other several prominent groups.