Putin downplays British spying scandal (AP) Updated: 2006-01-26 10:03
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that the discovery of an
alleged spy ring run by British diplomats also accused of funneling funds to
non-governmental organizations proved the government was right to impose new
restrictions on NGOs.
In remarks broadcast by Russian television stations Putin appeared to play
down the likelihood of expelling the four British Embassy staff accused of
spying and said that Russia did not intend to allow the spy scandal to spoil
relations with the West.
But, he said, it was "lamentable" that foreign intelligence services were
financing Russian nonprofit groups.
"We see that there are attempts to work with non-governmental organizations
with the use of intelligence tools, and that there is financing of
non-governmental organizations by intelligence agencies," Putin said.
Russia's main security agency on Monday accused the British diplomats of
secretly providing money for NGOs, including to the country's best-known human
rights body, the Moscow Helsinki Group.
The State Duma on Wednesday passed a resolution condemning the alleged
involvement of foreign spies with NGOs. Putin earlier this month signed into a
law a measure that imposed severe new limits on the activities and financing of
non-governmental organizations. The legislation attracted a tide of Western
criticism amid concerns about a rollback of post-Soviet democratic freedoms in
Russia.
"I believe it will be clear to many people now why Russia passed a law
regulating the activities of non-governmental organizations," Putin said. "This
law is intended to prevent foreign states from meddling in Russia's domestic
political life."
Russian officials allege that such foreign-funded organizations are seeking
to foment discontent with the government. Those complaints rose sharply after
Western-leaning reformers gained power in the former Soviet republics of
Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan following large public protests.
In an echo of the Cold War, a state television broadcast late Sunday
purportedly showed four British diplomats using electronic equipment concealed
in a fake rock in a Moscow park to receive intelligence from agents in Russia.
The state channel Rossiya also showed copies of documents allegedly showing
that one of the diplomats had authorized the transfer of money to
non-governmental organizations working in Russia, including one that purportedly
authorized a transfer of $41,000 in October 2004 to the Moscow Helsinki Group,
which has been a persistent critic of Putin.
The Federal Security Service, or FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era
KGB, said that 12 NGOs had received funds under the diplomat's signature, the
Interfax news agency reported.
Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group, said the accusations
were part of a campaign against groups that promote democracy and human rights
and are critical of the Kremlin.
The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights warned Wednesday that
Russia's lower house of parliament could request criminal proceedings against
the Moscow Helsinki Group and several other NGOs.
Britain's Foreign Office has rejected allegations that its dealings with
Russian NGOs were improper, saying London gave assistance openly to support the
development of healthy civil society in Russia.
Putin said Wednesday that it was usual practice to expel intelligence
officers working under diplomatic cover, but added that from his point of view,
this would not achieve much.
"As far as I am concerned, let's suppose we expel these spies, others will
come and they may be smart," he said in his televised remarks. "We'll tie
ourselves in knots then trying to catch them."
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