00:58, 1 April 2014

South Ossetia introduces the notion of "foreign agent" in relation to NGOs

In South Ossetia, the new wording of the law "On non-governmental organizations (NGOs)", approved on March 31 by the Government of the Republic, introduces the notion of "an NGO, which functions as a foreign agent" in relation to the organizations, which receive funding from abroad.

Such organizations will be put into a separate register; they will also provide different reporting, more frequent than for other NGOs, said Murat Vaneev, Acting Minister of Justice of South Ossetia.

According to his story, the Ministry of Justice may conduct unscheduled inspections of the activities of foreign agents. Besides, foreign agents must operate through the banking system of South Ossetia.

Hiding the source of funding may lead to liquidation of the organization – a foreign agent – through the court, the RIA "Novosti" reports.