HRC takes control over check by MoJ of Astrakhan Committee of Soldiers' Mothers

The off-the-schedule check of the Astrakhan Regional Public Organization "Committee of Soldiers' Mothers", launched on May 31 by the regional departments of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), "Roskomnadzor" (Russian Federal Service for Supervising Communications, Information Technologies and Mass Media) and Fire Inspectorate, is still ongoing.

The grounds for the check are unknown – currently, the Committee is preparing a request to the prosecutor's office on the matter, said Sergey Krivenko, the head of the standing commission on civil-military relations of the Human Rights Council (HRC).

He asserts that the check is strongly hampering the work of the "Committee of Soldiers' Mothers"; according to his story, the organization is in fact inactive. Mr Krivenko believes that the check was customized and is aimed at closing the Astrakhan Committee.

The check looks very much like 'bulldozing' the Committee by power agencies; they can't stigmatize it as a 'foreign agent', for there is no foreign funding; therefore, it must be ruined by means of a check – crushed through violations we had allegedly revealed," said Natalia Evdokimova, the head of the HRC's standing commission for the development of non-profit organizations.

The HRC intends to "closely monitor the check" and "evaluate it after its completion," Ms Evdokimova has stressed.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.