==
Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
==
http://sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=100story_id=40657
Local NGO Latest to Be Listed as ‘Foreign Agent’
By Sergey Chernov
The St. Petersburg Times
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
Ella Polyakova, the chairwoman of the Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg
and a member of the Russian Presidential Council on Human Rights, believes
that the recent listing of her organization as a “foreign agent” may be
connected to her report about the alleged arrival of a large number of
Russian troops injured in Ukraine to St. Petersburg, she told The St.
Petersburg Times this week.
On Aug. 29, the Ministry of Justice included the non-governmental
organization, which defends the rights of soldiers, recruits and their
families, in its register of foreign agents, i.e. NGOs allegedly involved
in political activities and receiving foreign funding. Introduced as a law
in 2012, the term “foreign agent” for many is reminiscent of Soviet-era spy
mania.
The organization was listed soon after Polyakova reported that a flight
with about 100 Russian troops injured in Ukraine had arrived in St.
Petersburg. On Aug. 26, Polyakova told the Moscow-based liberal television
channel Dozhd that the injured troops were reportedly taken to the Kirov
Military Medical Academy in the city. In an interview later that day with
RBK, she said that she had received this information from journalists and
was re-checking it with them.
Speaking to The St. Petersburg Times earlier this week, Polyakova said that
only circumstantial evidence about the presence of the injured troops in
St. Petersburg has since become available. She referred to a story by the
Fontanka.ru news service, which reported that about seven military
ambulances with flashing lights and accompanied by military traffic police
vehicles were seen in the city on Aug. 28. She also mentioned Aug. 29 media
reports about a Russian paratrooper who was detained in Ukraine and, after
being passed to the Russian side, was transported to a burn center in St.
Petersburg.
The Ministry of Justice said on its website that it based its decision to
label the organization as a foreign agent on a report from the St.
Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office. However, this decision was made despite a
lawsuit by the NGO against the prosecutor’s office for conducting a number
of illegal raids on the organization that is still being heard in court in
St. Petersburg.
According to Polyakova, what the prosecutor’s office interpreted as
“political activities” were simply anti-war statements made by the
Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg, as well as reporting on human rights
abuses in the army.
“We said, ‘No to war in Crimea’ — we had posted the statement on our
website. They have also made a very vague accusation of ‘influencing the
public opinion,’” Polyakova said.
“We made two reports about the violations of human rights in the army and
handed them in to [Defense Minister Sergei] Shoigu, among others. This was
seen as us allegedly influencing state policies. But our stance on this is
the following; our state policy is not to wage war but to defend human
life; the state policy is not to fight against neighbors but solve
conflicts peacefully by the means of diplomacy. That’s what we think state
policies are and not a violation of Russian laws. We have no law which
would say the opposite.”
Polyakova also denied any foreign funding, saying that the organization was
funded by two grants from the Russian government. “We have one grant from
the National Welfare Fund and the other is a presidential Civic Dignity
grant,” she said.
After the NGO was branded as a foreign agent, Polyakova said that the
organization will have to put the term on its documents and be subject to
closer attention from authorities.
“For instance, take when a soldier is being beaten in a certain military
unit,” Polyakova said.
“In such cases, we write letters to the Investigation Committee, to the
Military Prosecutor’s Office, to the commanders and ask them to ensure his
safety. And now there should be a notice saying [the NGO] ‘performs the
functions of a foreign agent,’ which essentially means that it’s written by
spies. It also implies additional checks, increased attention, audits twice
a year…there’s a lot there.”
According to Polyakova, her NGO is planning to file an inquiry with the
Prosecutor’s Office to find out the exact grounds of its inclusion in the
foreign agents register and file a complaint with the court on the
decision. She said the Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg would also
support the initiative by Russian Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin, who proposed to
amend the foreign agent law.
“For the time being, we have to abide by the law; what else we can do if
the law is like this?” Polyakova asked.
The Soldiers’ Mothers of St.
