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DW
5 days ago
- Politics
- DW
Russia's election watchdog and voter rights group disbands – DW – 07/11/2025
Golos spent 25 years campaigning for voters' rights and monitoring elections in Russia. As pressure from authorities mounts, the watchdog is shutting down. The Russian independent election monitoring group Golos (Voice) has announced that it is ceasing operations 25 years after its inception. In a statement published on its website, the organization said it had been forced to take this step amid mounting pressure from Russian authorities and Golos members, who face increasing danger. Golos describes itself as an "all-Russian social movement for the defense of voters' rights." Its statement said the group's disbanding was linked to the sentencing of Golos co-chair Grigory Melkonyants to five years in prison by a Moscow court in May. The court found Melkonyants guilty of cooperating with the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), a foreign NGO blacklisted as "undesirable" in Russia. The statement says "the court equates Golos with ENEMO, despite the fact that ENEMO has never observed elections or conducted any activity in Russia." The watchdog fears that charges similar to those brought against Melkonyants could also be made against other Golos members, or those who have sought advice or legal assistance from the group. Golos insists that it has no connection to ENEMO and says the prosecution of Melkonyants is politically motivated and intended to silence election observers in Russia. Golos was founded in 2000 and was among the first independent initiatives in post-Soviet Russia to focus on election monitoring. Inspired by the upheavals of the 1990s, Lilia Shibanova took charge of the organization and was soon joined by other human rights activists and lawyers, including Grigory Melkonyants. From the outset, Golos observed growing state support for the ruling party, particularly after United Russia was founded in 2001. It also documented restrictions on independent election monitors starting in 2004. Golos made use of new digital tools to record violations and analyze election fraud while also developing services and platforms to increase election transparency. This included an interactive website mapping violations across Russia, allowing election observers and voters to post messages. Golos gained Russia-wide recognition amid the 2011 anti-fraud protests in the context of the State Duma election, and as a driver of the "Vote Against Crooks and Thieves" campaign initiated by opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Golos came under state scrutiny after Russia passed its "foreign agents" law in 2012. Just one year later, Russia blacklisted the organization as a "foreign agent" because of an award it was to receive from the Norwegian Helsinki Committee — an award that Golos ultimately declined. Russian authorities repeatedly searched the Golos offices, confiscating computers and threatening the organization's workers across the country. Because Golos members were listed as "foreign agents," they were banned from participating in elections. The organization remained on the "foreign agents" list although it received no financial support from abroad. In 2016, Golos was dissolved at the request of the Justice Ministry, but the group continued operating as an unregistered association. In 2021, Golos was again classified as a "foreign agent" and placed on a list of unregistered social associations. Even so, Golos continued coordinating the work of election observers, most recently during the 2024 presidential vote. Security forces, however, persecuted numerous Golos members, including Shibanova, Roman Udot, Melkonyants and Artem Vashenkov. All except Melkonyants eventually went into exile. The end of Golos deals "a very hard blow against independent civil society, fundamental rights in Russia and free elections in Russia," said Stefanie Schiffer, who chairs the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE). Schiffer said the public still wanted independent election monitors to operate within Russia. There is a "deeply rooted and entirely justified" need for people to "manage their own affairs," Schiffer said. And now election monitoring will no longer exist in Russia in its current form. "The closure of Golos is very sad news," the journalist-turned-politician Yekaterina Duntsova, who wanted to run for the presidency in 2024 but was barred from doing so, told DW. "It is one of the few organizations that consistently advocated for civil election monitoring." Golos established a culture of election monitoring in Russia, said Duntsova, who is confident that the group's experience and insights will be passed on to a future election-monitoring movement. "As far as elections are concerned, the situation in Russia is difficult," she said. "As soon as it changes, there will be new initiatives." Udot, the former Golos co-chair, told DW. that election observers had continued to work in Russia, despite increasing repression, bans on rallies and shady election result reporting. "The organization of civil control will suffer," Udot said, "but the driving force will not disappear." Udot said he was confident that the legacy of Golos and its standards would live on and observers would be able to work in Russia again at some point. "Elections are held, and observers remain," he said. "It may sound strange, but we will be back." Ivan Shukshin, a former Golos member in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia who continues to monitor elections from abroad, told DW that the organization's disbanding will undermine connections within civil society and increase its fragmentation. "The regime has achieved its goal," Shukshin said. "Golos has been destroyed." He expects that only pseudo-opposition parties permitted to participate in elections by Russian authorities will monitor polls. "There will no longer be a coordination center, but the work on the ground will continue, municipal candidates will be assisted, and monitoring will continue, albeit without a common platform," Shukshin said. He doubts that a new organization like Golos can emerge in the current conditions. "There will be no nationwide structure, and, as long as there is no regime change, nothing of the sort will emerge, though there will be individual initiatives," Shukshin said, who continues to analyze Russia elections from abroad. "This is my country. Even if things keep getting worse, we have to keep an eye on everything. So that there is no vacuum." .
Scoop
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Russia Must Immediately Release Election Monitor Grigory Melkonyants: UN Special Rapporteur
GENEVA (22 May 2025) – The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, today condemned the 12 May 2025 sentencing of Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the 'Golos' movement which had been declared 'foreign agent' in Russia. Melkonyants was sentenced to five years in prison by the Basmanny Court of Moscow for his peaceful work defending electoral integrity and human rights in Russia. 'This sentence is a grave miscarriage of justice and a blatant attempt to silence one of Russia's critical voices for electoral transparency. It is yet another example of the severe clampdown on civil society by Russian authorities in the past three years, since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022,' Mariana Katzarova said. 'The charges are politically motivated and based on legally dubious grounds, including misrepresented evidence and disregard for the defendant's rights.' Melkonyants was convicted under article 284.1(3) of the Russian Criminal Code for allegedly organising the activities of an 'undesirable' organisation – the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO). The court also imposed a nine-year ban on his participation in public activities following his prison term. 'Melkonyants' case exemplifies the systematic targeting of civil society actors in Russia who dare to challenge the State's control over the electoral process,' Katzarova said. 'His arrest and conviction violate his rights to freedom of expression, association, and participation in public affairs, as protected under articles 19, 21, and 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.' Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023, just weeks before the start of the presidential campaign that led to Russian President Vladimir Putin's re-election. The prosecution alleged ties between 'Golos' and ENEMO, despite 'Golos' publicly withdrawing membership in 2021 after ENEMO was labelled 'undesirable.' His trial, which began in September 2024, was marred by procedural flaws, including reliance on outdated ENEMO website data linking 'Golos' to a defunct organisation, and disregard for evidence of 'Golos' formally leaving the network. Furthermore, Melkonyants' participation in a roundtable at the Central Election Commission (CEC) – used as evidence against him – was at the official invitation of the CEC chair and in his capacity as an individual expert, not as a representative of any foreign organisation as claimed by the prosecution. 'The prosecution failed to demonstrate that Melkonyants posed any risk to the investigation, yet he was held in pre-trial detention for over a year,' the expert said. The Special Rapporteur expressed grave concern over the broader legal framework for Melkonyants' prosecution, noting that laws on 'foreign agents' and 'undesirable' organisations criminalise international cooperation and civic engagement. She noted that the targeted 'designations' of human rights organisations under these laws, continued. Most recently, on 19 May 2025, the authorities declared Amnesty International 'undesirable' for, as they claimed, 'backing Ukraine against Russia, promoting Russophobic narratives, and financing 'extremists' and 'foreign agents''. 'Melkonyants is being punished not for a crime, but for his steadfast commitment to human rights and safeguarding the principle of free and fair elections in Russia,' Katzarova said. 'For over 20 years, 'Golos' has advanced electoral transparency and reform in Russia,' she said. 'Melkonyants must be released immediately with all charges against him dropped. The repressive laws under which he has been targeted must be repealed.' The Special Rapporteur has earlier addressed the Government on this case.
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Russian court jails prominent election monitoring activist for 5 years
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of Russia's leading independent election monitoring group Golos(Photo: AP) A court in Moscow on Wednesday convicted one of the leaders of a prominent independent election monitoring group on charges of organizing the work of an "undesirable" organization and sentenced him to five years in prison. Grigory Melkonyants , co-chair of Russia's leading election watchdog Golos , has rejected the charges as politically motivated. The case against him is part of the monthslong crackdown on Kremlin critics and rights activists that the government ratcheted up after invading Ukraine in 2022. After a judge of the Basmanny District Court delivered the verdict, Melkonyants, 44, told several dozen supporters and journalists from the glass defendant's cage: "Don't worry, I'm not despairing. You shouldn't despair either!" Golos has monitored for and exposed violations in every major election in Russia since it was founded in 2000. Over the years, it has faced mounting pressure from the authorities. In 2013, the group was designated as a "foreign agent" - a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. Three years later, it was liquidated as a non-governmental organization by Russia's Justice Ministry. Golos has continued to operate without registering as an NGO, exposing violations in various elections, and in 2021 it was added to a new registry of "foreign agents," created by the Justice Ministry for groups that are not registered as a legal entity in Russia. It has not been designated as "undesirable" - a label that under a 2015 law makes involvement with such organizations a criminal offense. But when it was an NGO, it was a member of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations, or ENEMO, a group that was declared "undesirable" in Russia in 2021, and the charges against Melkonyants stemmed from that. In his closing statement to the court on Monday, published in full by independent news outlets Mediazona and Meduza, Melkonyants talked about how rights and freedoms often are taken for granted but look very different from "behind bars," and it's clear how much one must constantly "protect and defend" them. The defense argued that when ENEMO was outlawed in Russia, Golos wasn't a member, and Melkonyants had nothing to do with it. The renowned election expert and lawyer by training was arrested in August 2023 and has been in custody ever since. Ella Pamfilova, chair of Russia's Central Election Commission, the country's main election authority, spoke out in his support at the time, telling Russian business daily Vedomosti about the case: "I would really like to hope that they will handle this objectively. Because his criticism, often professional, helped us a lot sometimes." Independent journalists, critics, activists and opposition figures in Russia have come under increasing pressure from the government in recent years that intensified significantly amid the war in Ukraine. Multiple independent news outlets and rights groups have been shut down, labeled as "foreign agents" or outlawed as "undesirable." Hundreds of activists and critics of the Kremlin have faced criminal charges. Melkonyants' defense team said after the verdict that they will appeal. Lawyer Mikhail Biryukov told reporters that "there is no evidence" in the case that he and others on the defense team consider "politically motivated, pretentious." "We will fight for Grigory's freedom, because an illegal, unjust verdict should not exist. It should not stand (in the appeal proceedings). We all hope that the law will prevail," Biryukov said. With the time Melkonyants has already spent in detention taken into account, he will have to serve less than half of the term he was handed down, according to Mediazona. Memorial, Russia's prominent human rights group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, has designated Melkonyants as a political prisoner .
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russian election monitor sentenced to 5 years over 'undesirable' organization links
A Moscow court on May 14 sentenced Grigory Melkonyants, the co-chair of independent Russian election monitor Golos, to five years in prison over allegedly participating in activities of an "undesirable" organization. Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023 in connection with Golos's claimed links to the European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), a Montenegro-based international network of election monitors working in Europe and Central Asia. Russia branded ENEMO as an "undesirable" organization – a legal classification used to repress the regime's perceived opponents – in September 2021. Prosecutors have called for a six-year sentence and claimed that Golos was a structural part of ENEMO, which Melkonyants and the network both denied. The Montenegro-based network has said it has not interacted with Golos since 2021. Independent news outlet Mediazona noted that neither the Golos association – the original iteration of the organization dissolved after being branded a "foreign agent" – not the current Golos movement has been named an "undesirable" organization. Melkonyants was also banned from public activities for nine years after serving his sentence. The prison term will count since the start of his pretrial detention in 2023. The case has been largely described as part of the Kremlin's crackdown on civil society. Golos, in its various forms, has monitored Russian elections since 2000. It has faced hostility from the Kremlin for highlighting widespread electoral violations — most notably during the 2012 presidential election, which marked Vladimir Putin's return to power. The crackdown against the organization has only intensified after the outbreak of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Golos's members have openly criticized the war. Read also: Will Putin meet Zelensky? As Ukraine, Russia peace talks loom, all eyes are on Kremlin's next move We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
CBC
14-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Head of Russia's only independent election watchdog receives 5-year prison sentence
The head of Russia's only independent election watchdog was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in a penal colony after being found guilty of working with an "undesirable organization." Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the Golos movement, was arrested in August 2023. He pleaded not guilty at his trial. Human rights campaigners say the case against the 44-year-old is part of a wider crackdown on civil society that has intensified since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. News outlet Mediazona said Melkonyants called out to supporters in the courtroom and urged them not to be downhearted over the verdict. Golos, which means both "voice" and "vote" in Russian, first angered the authorities by publicizing evidence of what it said was fraud in a 2011 parliamentary election that led to opposition protests, and then in the presidential vote that returned Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012. The charges against Melkonyants were based on his alleged involvement with the Montenegro-based European Network of Election Monitoring Organisations, which links watchdogs in former communist countries in Europe and Central Asia. ENEMO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Golos says it has had no interaction with ENEMO since Russia banned the latter as "undesirable" in 2021. "This absurd case [against Melkonyants] defies easy explanation, not only for foreigners but even for ourselves," Golos co-chair Stanislav Andreichuk told Reuters. Despite being designated as a "foreign agent," Golos continues its work in Russia. "Even though things are getting tougher, we're still doing what we do," Andreichuk said. Last year, Golos described the 2024 election that returned Putin for a fifth term with more than 88 per cent of the vote as the most fraudulent and corrupt in the country's history. The Kremlin said the result showed that the Russian people had "consolidated" around Putin, and Western attempts to portray the election as illegitimate were absurd. Andreichuk said the Melkonyants trial should matter to the outside world, because Golos's work was part of a struggle for democracy. "A real democracy in Russia wouldn't be a military threat. But an authoritarian government will keep threatening its neighbours," he said. Rights group OVD-Info says more than 1,600 people are currently imprisoned in Russia on political grounds. The Kremlin says it does not comment on individual cases, but that Russia needs to uphold its laws and protect itself against subversive activity.
