Authorities in Moscow on Thursday designated the prisoner rights group Russia Behind Bars and three of its affiliates as undesirable, making their work illegal in Russia and putting staff members at risk of jail time.Russias Prosecutor Generals Office banned the German non-profitRussland hinter gittern Russia Behind Bars legal entity the MRR-Fund gemeinntzige, as well as the Czech prisoner rights group Za vai a nai svobodu and the human rights festival Kulturus.The law enforcement body said it had established that these organizations operate under a common leadership, accusing them of discrediting the countrys armed forces and demonizing Russia and its history.Russia Behind Bars founder Olga Romanova, who lives in exile in Germany,said all four of the banned organizations are very directly related to her, adding that she was proud following the undesirable designations.Russia introduced its undesirable list in 2015 to crack down on foreign NGOs and ban Russians from working with or donating to them.
Authorities have since used the law on undesirable organizations to target independent news outlets, human rights groups, environmental organizations and educational institutions.Recent amendments also empower Russias Justice Ministry to label any state-sponsored entity as undesirable, imposing similar criminal penalties as those for NGOs.The Justice Ministry labeled Russia Behind Bars a foreign agent in 2018.