‘Gorbachev Foundation’ suspected of ‘foreign agent’ activities
A member of the Civic Chamber of Russia (a government oversight committee) has filed a request with the Ministry of Justice to inspect the Gorbachev Foundation for possible “foreign agent” activities.
Civic Chamber member Georgiy Fedorov, who filed the request, wrote in his document that the Gorbachev Foundation had recently released a report titled “1985-2015: Values of Perestroika the Context of Modern Russia,” which allegedly “calls for a new Perestroika, meaning government and political reforms in the country.” Fedorov also pointed out that the Gorbachev foundation is an international NGO with headquarters in San Francisco.
“The combination of a foreign registration (financing) and political activity on the territory of the Russian Federation is reason enough to include the organization in the ‘foreign agents’ registry,” states Fedorov in his request.
The Gorbachev Foundation has responded that the organization’s headquarters are not in San Francisco, and that the Foundation does not receive any foreign funding.
“The foundation never had and does not currently have headquarters in San Francisco, it does not receive any funding from abroad, and it follows the law,” Gorbachev Foundation representative Pavel Palashchenko told news agency TASS.
“I believe the foundation fully fits the description provided in the law on organizations with ‘foreign agent’ status. Yet the foundation is not included in this registry. As a result, I appealed to the Ministry of Justice, asking them to inspect this organization,” stated Civic Chamber member Georgiy Fedorov.
The Gorbachev Foundation, also known as the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies, was established by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1992. It is a think tank dedicated to ideas of “progress and humanism,” fostering dialog among experts and the public. It works with universities, other foundations, NGOs, and government bodies.
The law on “foreign agents” was passed in 2012. It requires NGOs that receive funding from abroad to enter a registry and submit themselves to debilitating levels of bureaucratic scrutiny and to label their work as done by “foreign agents.” If an organization which fits the description of “foreign agent” fails to register as such, they can be placed on the registry after a court ruling.
There are currently 68 organizations on the registry, including the Russian office of Transparency International and the Sakharov Center. Most recently, the philanthropic organization the Dynasty Foundation was also branded a “foreign agent.”
Read more: ‘Pray to God that your country doesn’t kick you in the shins’ The story of the ‘Dynasty Foundation’