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Russian Activists Protest Accusations In Spy Scandal

1 February 2006 -- Russian human rights activists today again protested recent accusations by the secret services that they had received funding from alleged spies working for the British embassy in Moscow.

Lyudmila Alekseyeva, who chairs the Moscow Helsinki Group, called the accusations an "attack on civil society." She was speaking at a joint news conference in Moscow with other leading human rights activists.

Lev Ponomarev, director of the For Human Rights group, said the accusations were the "latest stage in mounting pressure on human rights organizations".

The accusations by Federal Security Service (FSB) officers were aired in a program on state-run television on 22 January. They followed the passage of a controversial law that severely restricts NGOs activities and financing.

At a press conference in the Kremlin on 31 January, President Vladimir Putin said Russia supports NGOs but does not want them to be run by "puppeteers from abroad."

(AFP)

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org