"OPEN RUSSIA" ON THE ROPES, BUT IRINA YASINA HOPES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 003945 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/13/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR RS SUBJECT: "OPEN RUSSIA" ON THE ROPES, BUT IRINA YASINA HOPES TO PRESS ON Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reasons: 1.4 (B/D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On April 12 a Moscow court upheld an earlier ruling freezing the assets of the Open Russia Foundation, which had been founded by and received the bulk of its funding from Mikhail Khodorkovskiy. Open Russia head Irina Yasina told the Ambassador on April 13 that though she planned to appeal the decision to Russia's Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR),she saw virtually no chance of saving the foundation. Projects indirectly funded by Open Russia were continuing, Yasina said, and she would seek alternate funding sources for them. The Ambassador underscored the contributions Open Russia had made to Russia's civil society development and the importance of continuing with Yasina's many projects. Yasina seemed more downbeat than ever, although she remained determined to keep working on programs as long as possible. END SUMMARY. COURT AGAIN RULES AGAINST OPEN RUSSIA -------------- ¶2. (U) The Moscow City Court rejected on April 12 an appeal of the Basmanniy District Court's March 16 ruling that froze the assets of Open Russia. The initial ruling had been made on the grounds that the assets at issue had come from illegal activities of former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovskiy. Open Russia's lawyer immediately announced that he would appeal the decision to the Constitutional Court and, possibly, to the ECHR as well. ¶3. (C) Open Russia head Irina Yasina told the Ambassador on April 13 that she saw almost no hope that the Constitutional Court would reverse the lower court's decision. She had virtually resigned herself to dissolving the foundation, and would not seek new funding sources for it. Yasina expressed particular concern that the Procuracy could go after two of Open Russia's employees who had been signing the foundation's financial documents. Meanwhile, other Open Russia employees had been leaving for new jobs, Yasina said; keeping them in an organization with Open Russia's uncertain fate would be unfair to them. ¶4. (C) In addition to challenging the Basmanniy Court's ruling in the higher court, Yasina said she had appealed for help to Ella Pamfilova, Chair of the Presidential Council for Assistance to Development of Institutions of Civil Society and Human Rights. Pamfilova had genuinely tried to help, but the Procuracy had responded to her inquiry by insisting that it was acting fully within the law. Yasina said that appealing to Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin would be fruitless, since he was under the Kremlin's control. . CONTINUING WITH INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS -------------- ¶5. (C) Although resigned to Open Russia's quick demise, Yasina stressed that she was continuing to work on projects paid for by organizations indirectly funded by the foundation. Indeed, she met the Ambassador during a break from a journalist roundtable organized and paid for by an organization which had received its money from Open Russia. There were numerous such projects, Yasina stressed, particularly in the regions. For now, the government had not sought to shut them down and sometimes even worked with them, Yasina said. In many regions, for instance, officials continued to attend regional political training courses, although Yasina conceded that they might begin to distance themselves from such projects in light of the current attack on Open Russia. Underscoring the importance of Open Russia's activities in promoting Russia's democratic development, the Ambassador stressed the value of the individual projects on which Yasina was working. ¶6. (C) While such projects continued, Yasina continued, they needed new funding sources. She had just received a small but symbolically important grant from the Dutch government. Yasina said she would be visiting the U.S. in late April in hopes of gaining support and finances, notably from the Soros Foundation. . NGO PLANS -------------- ¶7. (C) Yasina argued that the Putin administration had come to feel itself unstoppable in its efforts to roll back domestic independent forces. The attack on Open Russia was a part of the Kremlin's anti-Khodorkovskiy drive, Yasina believed, rather than being aimed primarily at civil society. Nonetheless, the NGO law was clearly aimed at independent civil society, and while it was not likely to be widely applied before the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, it would be MOSCOW 00003945 002 OF 002 implemented more forcefully thereafter. ¶8. (C) The plans of international human rights organizations to hold an alternate G-8 in Helsinki would not stop the Kremlin's efforts but might at least give it pause, Yasina continued. Much depended on how much press the alternate event drew, and on whether G-7 officials would attend. Her U.S. trip, in addition to seeking new funding sources, was also aimed at discussing plans for the Helsinki event with U.S. human rights groups. . COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) Yasina had long stressed to us that though Open Russia continued to function, the government could launch an attack on it at any moment. She had noted that, although numerous inspections of Open Russia's books had found no irregularities, the foundation remained vulnerable given the government's ability to use the courts for its own purposes. The current attack did not come as a complete surprise to Yasina. Although decidedly downbeat, Yasina intends to press on despite being resigned to an end to Open Russia. She oversees numerous civil society projects in the regions, and remains guardedly hopeful that they can continue to function even without Open Russia's support. BURNS