Medvedev pledges help to rights activists

MOSCOW (AFP) - – President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday told Russian rights activists he would submit a new bill to parliament to encourage their work as he moved further to burnish his image as a liberal reformer.

"A relevant bill has been prepared," Medvedev said as he received some of the country's top human rights activists at the Kremlin. "Today I am submitting it to the State Duma."

During his annual address to the nation on November 12, Medvedev promised he would do more to encourage non-profit "socially oriented" organizations by making them eligible for direct state support and tax benefits.

"Our common task is to bolster the authority of NGOs in society," Medvedev said.

At a previous meeting with rights activists last April, Medvedev said laws governing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) could be amended, signalling a break with his predecessor Vladimir Putin's policies.

Putin in 2006 signed legislation requiring NGOs to register with the state and increased scrutiny of their financing, one of several steps widely characterised as a rollback of democracy in Russia.

Putin let it be known at the time that the new rules were meant to tighten controls on Western funding of projects at odds with Kremlin policy, but the blanket regulations also took a heavy toll on Russian charities and NGOs.

Activists who participated in the meeting last April told Medvedev they longed for a change of atmosphere in Russian society and pleaded with the Federal Security Service (FSB), successor to the KGB, to stop "witch hunts."