Human Rights in Russia Week-ending 15 May 2020 - with Maria Kanevskaya

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Maria Kanevskaya (pictured), a civil society activist based in St. Petersburg who is one of Russia's leading lawyers working in the field of right of association. She currently heads the First NGO Laboratory. Maria talks about the development over the last 20 years of the inhospitable environment for NGOs in Russia that exists today. She describes the quite devastating impact of the foreign agent law on the right of association, especially for human rights and environmental NGOs. However, she also describes a veritable 'explosion' in the creation of unregistered, informal groups in civil society that in many ways are taking the place of registered NGOs in what is apparently a reaction against the negative regulatory environment. She also discusses funding for civil society groups. In sum, Maria provides a detailed and considered picture of civil society organisations in Russia, based on her practice as a lawyer and leader of organisations that both study and support the 'third sector.' She also talks about the impact of Coronavirus in Russia. This podcast is in the Russian language. You can also listen to this podcast on SoundCloud, Spotify or iTunes. The music is from Stravinsky’s Elegy for Solo Viola, played here by Karolina Errera.