Russia labels ‘Doctors’ Alliance’ union a ‘foreign agent’
The Russian Justice Ministry has added the medical workers’ union “Alyans Vrachey” (Doctors’ Alliance) to the registry of “foreign agents.”
According to the Justice Ministry, an audit of the organization revealed the “repeated receipt of foreign funding, as well as the implementation of political activity.”
The medical workers’ union Doctors’ Alliance was established in 2018. According to its website, the organization’s goal is to fight “for fair wages, decent working conditions, higher premiums, and well-paid overtime for all of Russia’s medical workers.”
Doctors’ Alliance Chairwoman, Anastasia Vasilieva, is currently a suspect in a criminal case launched over alleged violations of coronavirus regulations during a rally in support of jailed opposition politician Alexey Navalny in January. Vasilieva, as well as the other suspects in the case, have been under house arrest since late January.
According to state investigators, the suspects in the case called for participation in a pro-Navalny rally on Moscow’s Pushkinskaya Square. “Acting on the aforementioned call,” a number of people came to the rally who should have been self-isolating at home due to COVID-19. This created a threat of mass infection, the prosecution says.