MOSCOW. Feb 8 (Interfax) - The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) has blocked the website of the Moscow Helsinki Group human rights organization in Russia.
Access to the Moscow Helsinki Group website (mhg.ru) has been restricted in Russia, according to the Roskomnadzor universal service for checking restrictions on access to websites and webpages. The service does not indicate who demanded the website be added to the register of information prohibited in Russia.
Interfax has asked Roskomnadzor for comment.
On January 25, the Moscow City Court abolished the Moscow Helsinki Group human rights organization by granting a motion from the Moscow branch of the Russian Justice Ministry. The Moscow Helsinki Group said it would appeal the ruling.
According to the Justice Ministry's motion, the ministry uncovered violations during the November 2022 unscheduled inspection of the MHG's activities for the period 2019-2021. Specifically, the MHG members participated in events outside Moscow, while, according to its charter, the organization is regional.
The Moscow Helsinki Group was founded by Soviet physicist and human rights activist Yury Orlov in 1976. The goal of the non-governmental organization is to promote implementation of the humanitarian articles of the 1975 Helsinki Accords concerning the observance of civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and other human rights and freedoms.
The MHG later suspended its activities and was reestablished in 1989.