Russia scolded for CLOSING Amnesty International in Moscow amid growing global tensions
RUSSIA has been condemned for shutting down human rights group Amnesty International in Moscow after changing its locks without any warning.
By Charlie Peat
PUBLISHED: 000, Thu, Nov 3, 2016 | UPDATED: 065, Thu, Nov 3, 2016
Moscow Amnesty International PutinEPA•FACEBOOK
Moscow closed its Amnesty International base and changed the locks without notice
The organisation has been highly critical of Russia’s human rights record after 20 years of service in the capital.
The stunned director of the charity, Sergei Nikitin, took to Facebook to express his surprise when he discovered the locks had been changed and the power shut off at the organisation’s Moscow headquarters.
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Moscow Sergei Amnesty InternationalFACEBOOK
Director of the charity in Moscow, Sergei Nikitin, posted a photo on Facebook of the warning
He said: “Amnesty International Office in Moscow sealed off without an explanation. Locks replaced after the break-in at the front door.”
This triggered Amnesty International’s European director John Dalhusien to blast the decision by Russian authorities.
Given the current climate for civil society work in Russia
John Dalhusien
He said: “We do not know what prompted Moscow authorities to prevent our staff from accessing our offices.
“Given the current climate for civil society work in Russia, there are clearly any number of plausible explanations, but it’s too early to draw any conclusions.
“We are working to resolve the situation as swiftly as possible and very much hope there is a simple administrative explanation for this setback to our work.
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“We are 100 per cent confident that we fulfilled all our obligations as tenants.”
But the local council told Russian media the office was no longer under “contractual relations” and the charity had ignored a debt notice.
Sergei Niki tin John DalhusienGETTY
Sergei Niki tin and European director John Dalhusien were both skeptical of the decision
A spokesperson added that "the presence of third persons in it was illegal".
Mr Nikitin has previously been critical of the Kremlin after it passed a law allowing foreign organisations to be banned from operating in the country if they were seen as “undesirable”.
The amnesty director in Moscow branded the law as "another sobering sign of how the Russian authorities are quickly closing in on fundamental freedoms and the work of independent civil society groups in the country".
