Billionaire Prokhorov To Pay Russian Rights Group's Rent

Mikhail Prokhorov

The leader of Russia's Civil Platform party, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, says he will pay annual office rent for a prominent rights group in Moscow.

Prokhorov's party announced that its leader decided to give the For Human Rights group up to 1.5 million rubles ($45,600) after he met with the group's leader, Lev Ponomaryov.

On June 21, police raided the offices of For Human Rights in central Moscow and demanded the group vacate the premises.

See RFE/RL's Full Coverage Of Russia's NGO Crackdown

Moscow authorities said that the lease on the offices in a building which belongs to the city administration had expired.

Ponomaryov says his group will continue fighting to overturn the authorities' decision.

Russian rights groups have come under pressure after a law requiring NGOs involved in political activities and receiving funding from abroad to register as "foreign agents" was adopted recently.

Based on reporting by ITAR-TASS and RIA Novosti