MOSCOW (AP) — A jailed leader of a prominent independent election monitoring group in Russia appeared in court Wednesday as his trial continued on charges of organizing the work of an “undesirable” organization.
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chairman of Russia’s election watchdog Golos, faces up to six years in prison if convicted. He has dismissed the allegations as politically motivated. The case against him is part of a months-long crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists that the government has stepped up after sending troops to Ukraine.
Golos is an independent watchdog that monitors and exposes violations in every major election in Russia. It was founded in 2000 and has since played a key role in the independent monitoring of elections in Russia. Over the years, the country has faced increasing pressure from authorities. In 2013, the group was labeled a “foreign agent” – a label that implies additional government surveillance and has strong pejorative connotations. Three years later it was liquidated as a non-governmental organization by the Russian Ministry of Justice.
Golos has continued to operate without registering as an NGO, uncovering violations in several elections, and in 2021 it was added to a new register of “foreign agents” set up by the Justice Department for groups not considered legal entity registered in Russia. .
It has not been labeled as ‘undesirable’ – a label that criminalizes involvement with such organizations under a 2015 law. But it was once a member of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, a group declared “undesirable” in Russia in 2021.
Independent journalists, critics, activists and opposition figures in Russia have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years, which increased significantly during the conflict in Ukraine. Several independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled “foreign agents” or banned as “undesirable.” Hundreds of activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges.
