The UN must act now to stop Russia’s growing crackdown on activism and free speech

For months, Russian authorities have regularly unleashed repressive announcements on Fridays. 15 July was no different.   

That day, a court in the city of Krasnodar sentenced Andrey Pivovarov, the former executive director of the now-defunct pro-democracy Open Russia Civic Movement, to four years in prison on charges of leading an ‘undesirable organisation’. 

The same Friday also saw Russian federal authorities blacklist more organisations as undesirable. 

These included the Central and Eastern European Law Initiative, a public service project of the American Bar Association aimed at advancing the rule of law; Bellingcat, a journalism...