Human rights in Russia

Russia's government has added the German Marshall Fund of the United States to its list of foreign entities whose activities are deemed "undesirable" in the country.

Russia's Supreme Court rejected the appeal of opposition Alexei Navalny, who is trying to change the controversial decision not to be allowed to compete with Vladimir Putin in the presidential election, RIA Novosti reported.

Russia's Supreme Court rejected on 30 December the appeal of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny against the decision of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) not to allow him to participate in the presidential election in March 2018, Reuters reported.

The European Union urged Russia "to release without delay" what it said in a statement were "peaceful demonstrators" detained a day earlier during nationwide protests against corruption, AFP reported. 

On Sunday Russia's main opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been arrested at an anti-corruption protest he organised in the capital, Moscow, BBC reports.

Thousands of people crowded into Moscow’s Pushkin Square on Sunday for an unsanctioned protest against the Russian government, part of a wave of demonstrations taking place throughout the country.

A Russian court found opposition leader Alexei Navalny guilty of embezzlement. According to a report by Interfax the decision takes away from the Russian politician the right to run for President in the 2018 elections.

The decision has not been officially announced yet, but one his lawyers stated that the decision will indeed have these political repercussions.

The Obama administration has sanctioned Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun as alleged assassins of Alexander Litvinenko, a former Russian spy. The two are believed to be among the top allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two men allegedly poisoned Litvinenko in London in 2006.

Both EU and US representatives showed reactions of concern over the newly passed bill allowing foreign NGOs to be banned in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law May 23 giving prosecutors the power to declare foreign and international organizations "undesirable" in Russia and shut them down.