MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government will not interfere with the activities of public organizations in the country under the pretext of fighting political extremism, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday.
"I think it would be wrong to interfere with the work of public organizations by claiming it would improve interaction [between government bodies and political organizations]," Putin said at an annual Kremlin live televised news conference with Russian and foreign journalists. "We have a different approach toward such interaction with these organizations."
The Russian government has faced criticism from Western leaders for restrictions imposed on rights groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the country, and the issue is often cited as an example of Russia's alleged backsliding on democracy.
One of the recent cases when the Russian government clamped down on an NGO involved the closure of the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society public organization.
A regional court in Central Russia ruled last October to close down the headquarters of the organization for tax violations and for holding illegal rallies. The court accused the organization of having extremist elements in its work and last month Russia's Supreme Court upheld the decision to liquidate the organization.
The Russian-Chechen Friendship Society is a non-governmental organization monitoring human rights violations in Chechnya and other regions of the North Caucasus, which publicizes alleged disappearances, executions, and torture in the region, and is supported by the global human rights watchdog Amnesty International.
