Russian officials are using harsh new legal interpretations to silence nonprofit organizations whose work challenges government positions or authority, the director of the country’s only independent polling agency contends.
“The authorities have wanted to destroy the Levada Center as a large independent research organization for a long time,” Lev Gudkov said in an interview this week with VOA’s Russian service.
The Russian Justice Ministry announced Monday it was designating the Levada Center as a “foreign agent,” saying it had found irregularities in the organization’s paperwork during a snap inspection. In July, the pro-Kremlin Anti-Maidan movement had called on the ministry to …read more
Source: Voice of America
