"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

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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