Human Rights NGO Receives $80,000 in Donations

The St. Petersburg Times

Published: December 13, 2012 (Issue # 1739)

Wikimedia Commons Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a veteran rights activist and head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said that the donations would fund the group's operational expenses and core personnel.

MOSCOW – The Moscow Helsinki Group, one of Russia's oldest human rights organizations, said Wednesday that it had received 2.5 million rubles ($81,300) in donations since launching an appeal for financial support late last month.

Lyudmila Alexeyeva, a veteran rights activist and head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said that the donations would fund the group's operational expenses and core personnel, while any additional contributions would go toward targeted human rights programs and providing legal assistance to Russian citizens, RIA-Novosti reported.

Major donors included rock musician Yury Shevchuk, who contributed proceeds from a concert held Tuesday, and billionaire and former presidential hopeful Mikhail Prokhorov, who earlier contributed 1 million rubles.

Another 1 million rubles came in small private donations from an unspecified number of individual contributors, Vedomosti reported.

Other rights groups including Transparency International and Golos have said they would also seek donations to finance future work after a law toughening restrictions on NGOs that conduct “political activity” and receive foreign funding came into force late last month.