Human rights organisations have warned that Parliament is aiming for "total state control of Russian civil society" with new legislative proposals.

Russia's main human rights organizations have warned of new attacks on fundamental freedoms. A whole package of legislative proposals had been introduced in parliament, aiming "practically at total state control of Russian civil society". The Memorial, the Moscow Helsinki Group, and the Sakharov Center organisations are sending the warnings.

Shortly before the start of a press conference, the public prosecutor's office at Memorial in Moscow began a raid. Memorial chief Oleg Orlov said that in disregard of the strict Corona regulations, the prosecutors began to review documents without notice.

Human rights activists complained about growing pressure.

Human rights activists complained about growing pressure. For example, new initiatives aimed at restricting members of parliament loyal to the Kremlin, the right to freedom of assembly, and free access to education.

Basically, the state wants in future to stipulate what kind of knowledge can be consumed - for example, which historical point of view is correct, said the director of the Sakharov Center, Sergei Lukaschewski. That's censorship, he summed up.

The rejection of the knowledge promoted by the Kremlin is a red light to any social activity because it is banned. What kind of knowledge? For instance, the West is possessed with a phobia against Russians, or the neighboring countries are “metaphysical geopolitical enemies”.

Activities with a view to the general election

There are also plans to use the controversial term "foreign agent" much more widely. So far, this has mainly affected organizations that are financed with money from abroad. In the future, politicians and journalists should also be able to be classified as "foreign agents". You should then no longer be allowed to participate in elections or even be sentenced to prison.

According to experts, the Kremlin Party, United Russia, is preparing to obstruct the opposition in next year's parliamentary elections. "This gives civil servants the legal right to ban any initiative that appears critical or insufficiently aligned with the line," warned the human rights activists.