Russian Justice Ministry designates election monitoring group ‘Golos’ as a ‘foreign agent’

The Russian Justice Ministry has designated the independent election monitoring movement “Golos” as a “foreign agent,” Interfax reported on Wednesday, August 18.

This makes Golos the first informal organization to be added to the Justice Ministry’s new registry of “foreign agents” that don’t have corresponding legal entities in Russia.

The “Golos” voters’ rights movement was created in 2013, as a spin-off of the registered NGO Golos, after the association was blacklisted as a “foreign agent.” The Golos association was officially liquidated by the courts in 2016, at the request of the Justice Ministry.

• In February 2021, the Russian Justice Ministry announced plans to create a designated registry of “foreign agents” that aren’t officially registered as organizations and don’t have corresponding legal entities in Russia.
• The Justice Ministry also maintains two other “foreign agent” registries — ones for registered NGOs and another for media outlets.