Monika Mannerström Skog

The new bill signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin into law on June 28^th will criminalize “undesirable” participations with non-governmental organizations, five days after the Federation council approved it. This force of actions in avoiding opposition against Putin regime is a clear sign of what is going on as undemocratic progress in Russia.

The bill declares that Russian citizens may face up to six years in prison if found guilty of taking part in organizing “undesirable” activities of foreign non-governmental organizations. It also declares that individuals that voluntarily stop cooperating with these organizations or assist in shutting down its activities, will not face trial. In many ways the actions of Putin regime remind us of the time when iron curtain was a fact in Europe and that is a clear threat against democracy for Russian citizens.