Russia adds human rights group OVD-Info to list of ‘terrorists and extremists’

The Russian authorities have banned the human rights group OVD-Info, which monitors political persecution in the country and provides legal aid to victims of state repression.

Russian financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring added the organisation to its official list of “terrorists and extremists” on Thursday along with 35 other organisations, most of which are linked to the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial.

The new additions to the list follow an April ruling by the Russian Supreme Court declaring Memorial “extremist”, making any cooperation with it punishable by imprisonment. The specific entity named in the case, the “Memorial International Public Movement”, did not formally exist.

It’s unclear why OVD-Info and several other organisations that are not explicitly affiliated with Memorial were added to the registry.