Following a spate of resignations which has seen the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council lose nearly half of its members, the Head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, Lyudmila Alexeyeva announced on Friday she, too, is leaving the organization.
“I left the council, yes. I will submit my resignation today,” the elderly activist said at a press conference. She said her resignation was prompted by a recent announcement that the council will be forged on new principles.
Thirteen members of the council, including Transparency International Russian director Elena Panfilova and prominent rights activist Irina Yassina, have tendered their resignations since December’s disputed parliamentary elections.
The presidential council’s chair, Mikhail Fedotov, on Friday said the candidacies of new contenders vying to enter the organization will be discussed publicly.
Alexeyeva slammed the reform, saying it will make the council “unviable.”
Starting from July 1, the council will hold a public discussion on the candidacies of thirteen new members on its website. “Between August 1 and September 1 there will be internet voting,” Fedotov added.