'You must be doing something right if the Kremlin tries to shut you up,' says AgnesCallamard Amnesty
"The authorities are deeply mistaken if they believe that by closing down our office in Moscow they will stop our work documenting and exposing human rights violations," said Amnesty secretary-general Agnès Callamard.
"In a country where scores of activists and dissidents have been imprisoned, killed, or exiled, where independent media has been smeared, blocked, or forced to self-censor, and where civil society organizations have been outlawed or liquidated," she added,"you must be doing something right if the Kremlin tries to shut you up."
Hugh Williamson, director of HRW's Europe & Central Asia division, said that while the decision was potentially"devastating," it would not impact the group's commitment to its mission.its decision to shutter the operations of the various groups was"due to the discovery of violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation."