Rights in Russia
Rights in Russia
Week-ending Friday 30 October 2015
Returning the Names
Stalinism
On 29/10, in an event on Lubyanka Square. 'Returning the Names', members of the public honoured the memory of those executed during the Great Terror. (RFE/RL, 29/10)
GULAG museum
On 30/10 a new state-run museum on the history of the GULAG system opened in central Moscow. (RFE/RL. 30/10)
Natalya Sharina, Valery Semenenko
Law Enforcement
On 28/10 director of the Library of Ukrainian literature Natalya Sharina and head of the Association of Ukrainians in Russia Valery Semenenko were detained. Police searched their homes and the Library. (Human Rights in Ukraine, 29/10)
'Foreign agent' law
Right of association
On 27/10 reports said the Justice Ministry has proposed legal amendments reguiring NGOs designate as "foreign agents" to supply the Ministry with more information abot their work and setting a procedure for the government to shut down NGOs deemed "foreign agents". (The Moscow Times, 28/10)
Women of the Don
On 27/10 the Rostov region's Don Women rights group became the latest addition to the list of NGOs deemed "foreign agents." (The Moscow Times, 28/10)
Foreign ownership of media
Freedom of expression
On 26/10 Swedish media company Modern Times Group said it has sold its Russian and international pay television businesses to comply with a law restricting ownership of Russian media by foreigners. (The Moscow Times, 26/10)
Mikhail Anshakov
On 28/10 a Moscow court rejected an appeal by Mikhail Anshakov against a criminal investigation against him after his NGO, Public Control, warned tourists of the legal consequences of visiting Crimea. (Human Rights in Ukraine, 28/10)
Vladimir Ionov
Activists
On 24/10 members of two pro-Kremlin organizations attacked 75-year-old Vladimir Ionov holding a single-person picket outside the History Museum in Moscow. They threatened to do the same to "all those who insult Putin, insult Russia. (Human Rights in Ukraine, 24/10)
Euronews stake frozen
Yukos
On 29/10 the All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company said its stake in French broadcaster Euronews has been frozen as part of a $50bn damages case brought by ex-shareholders in Yukos. (The Moscow Times, 29/10)
Vadim Kostenko
Syria
On 24/10 nineteen-year-old Vadim Kostenko died at an air base in Syria -- the first confirmed death of a Russian serviceman in the country. (RFE/RL, 28/10)