posted 24 Jun 2015, 23:41 by Rights in Russia
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updated 25 Jun 2015, 00:18
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"Many people today have asked me to comment on the statement by citizen Putin V.V., doubling as President of the RF, made at a meeting of the so-called Public Chamber, that OZPP [Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights] serves the interests of foreign states in the context of a speech about foreign agents. The position of the OZPP is as follows: 1) Mr Putin V.V. has no competence to give an assessment of the work of civil society organizations; 2) Mr Putin V.V. is badly informed, since OZPP does not have the official status of a foreign agent and does not receive funding from abroad; 3) A statement of this kind by Mr Putin himself and a number of his colleagues in connection with the publication of the Memo for Consumers who visit occupied territories at times look like symptoms of paranoia." [Translated from original Russian]
- Mikhail Anshakov, chair of the Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights (OZPP), based in Moscow, writing on Facebook, 23 June 2015
On 23 June 2015, Human Rights Watch reported as follows: ' Russian authorities on June 22, 2015, blocked the website of a consumer protection group that had called Crimea an “occupied territory” [...]. The action and other harassment of the group violate the right to freedom of expression. The authorities should stop blocking the group’s website and end their continuing assault on free expression online.'
Mikhail Anshakov told Human Rights Watch: "We received no warning from either the prosecutors or the media and communications watchdog. Moreover, the statement published on the Prosecutor General’s website refers to our memo but does even not identify our organization by name.… We only found out post-factum, in the evening of June 22, when people started calling and saying they could no longer access our website. Unless the website is unblocked promptly, we will complain to a court of law. As regards the possibility of a criminal prosecution, if it happens we will also have no other choice but to fight them in court."
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