Today, the Russian authorities have closed down representative offices of Amnesty International and other international NGOs. Reacting to the news, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said:
“Amnesty’s closing down in Russia is only the latest in a long list of organizations that have been punished for defending human rights and speaking the truth to the Russian authorities.
In a country where scores of activists and dissidents have been imprisoned, killed or exiled, where independent media has been smeared, blocked or forced to self-censor, and where civil society organizations have been outlawed or liquidated, you must be doing something right if the Kremlin tries to shut you up.
