Russia's top prosecutor has vowed tighter control of nongovernment organizations' (NGOs) activities ahead of this year's parliamentary elections.
Prosecutor-General Yury Chaika called on prosecutors on March 23 "to take exhaustive response measures" against NGOs "violating laws," including "their dissolution via court hearings."
He also proposed to impose controls on regulatory and law enforcement agencies checking the NGOs' activities.
In 2012, Russia adopted a law requiring any NGO that receives funding from abroad and engages in political activity to formally register as a "foreign agent."
Amendments introduced to the law in 2014 allow the Justice Ministry to forcefully add NGOs to the list of "foreign agents."