Included observation

The Ministry of Justice included the Owl information and analytical center in the Register of Foreign Agents. This was reported by the press service of the department.

"The fact of compliance with the organization by the signs of a non -profit organization performing the functions of a foreign agent is established during the main department of the Ministry of Justice of Russia in Moscow of an unscheduled documentary audit," the report said. Political activity "Owls" considered a public assessment of the activities of state bodies.

The Owl information and analytical center was founded in October 2002 by a group of employees of the Panorama information and research center and the Moscow Helsinki group. As noted on the NGO website, the sphere of interests of “Owls” is “problems of nationalism and xenophobia, the relationship of religion and society, political radicalism, (not) rooting liberal values ​​and (not) observance of human rights in our country.”

"At the moment, the activities of the SOVA Center are supported by the international partnership for human rights, the Russian Jewish Congress, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and the European Union (EIDHR)," the NGO website says.

Director of "Owl" Alexander Verkhovsky promised to challenge the decision of the Ministry of Justice in court. "Of course, we will appeal, we do not agree with the decision on the merits," he said. He admitted that the center receives funding from behind the border, but did not agree with the assessment of its activities as political. “We, of course, receive money. And the activities of the authorities are evaluating, it seems to me that every citizen is engaged in this. It is completely incomprehensible to me why this is called political activity,” said Verkhovsky.

On December 23, the US State Department urged Russia to cancel the law on "foreign agents" . "The people of Russia deserves a strong, democratic government, which respects the role of civil society, and does not suppress the important work of NGOs," the message said.

According to the State Department, on December 19, Russia "reached a regrettable milestone", having ranked a non-governmental organization for the 150th to the "foreign agents". The use of the term "foreign agent" is a "conscious choice, suggesting that these organizations are traitors," the department noted. “We are urging the Russian government to cancel this law today and follow its international obligations in the field of human rights,” the State Department said.