Russia’s branch of the global anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International said Tuesday it has relaunched operations from abroad after being labeled “undesirable” by the authorities.
Transparency Russia was forced to dissolve itself earlier this year after being added to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office’s list of “undesirable” organizations.
“The experience and knowledge in the field of anti-corruption that we have accumulated over almost a quarter of a century cannot just disappear, so we have decided to resume work outside of Russia in a new format,” the NGO said.
Transparency Russia added that it was relaunching as “Russian TI chapter in exile,” vowing to “continue our work to bring about civil engagement against corruption in Russia and uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, integrity and honesty,”
Before its forced closure earlier this year, the NGO managed to operate in Russia despite being labeled a “foreign agent” in 2015.
Transparency International has ranked Russia among the world’s most corrupt countries, with weak political and civil rights as well as an ineffective system of checks and balances.
Russian authorities have cracked down on the country’s shrinking number of civil society groups, opposition activists and independent news outlets — a trend that has intensified since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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