Irreducible spot

The order of the Ministry of Justice on the procedure for maintaining a register of NPOs - “foreign agents” does not describe how an organization can be excluded from this list. That is, it turns out that if an organization caught engaging in political activities with foreign money changes its type of activity or stops receiving money from abroad, the stigma of a “foreign agent” will still remain on it.

Earlier, as Kommersant writes, the draft order discussed exclusion from the register if the conditions described above are met. However, now the exception is not specified at all. The draft order was posted on the ministry’s website, the human rights association of lawyers “Agora” carried out an examination, and the draft was discussed in the Public Chamber. According to OP member Daria Miloslavskaya, quoted by the newspaper, experts suggested, for example, shortening the period for excluding NPOs from the register, since “a year is a very long time, the information in the register will be misleading.” In addition, it was proposed to remove the types and goals of political activities of NGOs, “because it is not clear what it is.” All these benevolent proposals turned out to be hot air: the Ministry of Justice did not listen to them. Miloslavskaya, however, also notes a “positive change”: previously it was assumed that the register would be formed on the basis of some information coming from state authorities and local governments, but now only information is mentioned that should be provided by non-profit organizations themselves.

Meanwhile, the head of the Agora association, Pavel Chikov, told the newspaper that, in his opinion, the Ministry of Justice itself is “not enthusiastic” about the need to apply the law on NGOs and will push organizations to deal with the courts over their inclusion in the register. "Agora" is going to "fill up this law with legal means."