[ad_1]
The Russian authorities have opened a criminal investigation into one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group, his lawyer said Thursday.
Issued on:
2 min
The case against Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia’s leading election watchdog Golos, is the latest step in the months-long crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists that the government ratcheted up after sending troops into Ukraine.
Melkonyants’ lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told The Associated Press that his client is facing charges of “organizing activities” of an “undesirable” group, a criminal offense punishable by up to six years in prison.
Golos has not been labeled “undesirable” — a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense. But it was once a member of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, a group that was declared “undesirable” in Russia in 2021.
Police raided the homes of a further 14 Golos members on Thursday in eight different cities, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Melkonyants’ apartment in Moscow was also raided, and he was taken in for questioning.
In an interview with the AP Thursday, David Kankiya, a governing council member at Golos, linked the pressure on the group to the upcoming regional elections in Russia in September and the presidential election that is expected to take place in the spring of 2024.
“We see this as a form of political pressure and an attempt to stifle our activities in Russia,” Kankiya said.
Golos was founded in 2000 and has since played a key role in independent monitoring of elections in Russia. Over the years, it has faced mounting pressure from the authorities. In 2013, the group was designated as a “foreign agent” — a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative…
[ad_2]
