Russia's 'foreign agents' law violates rights convention: European court

Europe's top rights court condemned Russia on Tuesday over a 2012 law that allows authorities to crack down on NGOs, media outlets and others deemed "foreign agents," saying it violated the European Convention on Human Rights.

The controversial law, which was expanded by Russian lawmakers in 2020, has been used to quash opposition to President Vladimir Putin by forcing dozens of groups that receive foreign funding to disband.

Russia had long been a signatory to the 1953 rights convention, but since its exit from the Council of Europe in March following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, it will cease being a so-called "contracting party" to the convention in September.

That means its citizens will no longer be able to lodge cases alleging government rights abuses with the European Court of Human Rights, which handed down the "foreign agents" ruling on Tuesday.

The case involved punitive measures taken against 73 NGOs focusing on civil rights, the environment, education and other issues, and which filed their complaints to the court between 2013 and 2018.

They denounced onerous auditing and bureaucratic requirements after being deemed foreign agents because they received funding from abroad, and limits on their public gatherings and other activities, as well as heavy fines.

They alleged an infringement of their freedoms of expression and of assembly and association, both guaranteed by the European rights convention, as well as discrimination because of their political views.

Judges upheld the claims, saying "the interference with the applicant organisations' rights had been neither prescribed by law nor 'necessary in a democratic society'."

The court ordered Russia to pay the applicants a total of 1.02 million euros ($1.1 million) in damages as well as 119,000 euros for costs and expenses.

But this month, Russian lawmakers adopted legislation that finalised Moscow's exit from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.

As part of the amendments, Russia will not carry out rulings issued after March 15, the day Moscow said it would pull out of the Council of Europe after pressure mounted for Moscow to be expelled.

"The Russian Federation no longer implements these decisions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked for comment.