I’m proud to report news about the birth of the Finnish-Russian Citizen’s Forum by a group of human rights activists from Finland and Russia. Founding members include, among others, a Finnish Member of Parliament and my brother.
The press release about forming the organization follows.
-TPP
FINNISH-RUSSIAN CITIZENS’ FORUM ESTABLISHED
A group of persons worried about the development of democracy and the state of human rights in Russia has established a non-governmental organisation, Finnish-Russian Citizens’ Forum.
The organisation’s aim is to “promote cooperation between citizens and different peoples in Finland and the Russian Federation by supporting non-governmental organisations in their effort to strengthen democracy, human rights, and freedom of speech in Russia”.
The murder of the Russian journalist and civil rights activist, Ms Anna Politkovskaya, acted as a catalyst for establishing the Citizens’ Forum. This sad event served to consolidate cooperation between people concerned about Russia’s current development, prompting several appeals, public discussions, and demonstrations in autumn 2006.
The Citizens’ Forum supports Russian non-governmental organisations, which are now facing difficulties in their work due to Russia’s new draconian law on NGOs. The Citizens’ Forum will invite representatives of Russian organisations to Finland, organise visits to Russia, and distribute information about the situation in Russia.
The Citizens’ Forum will soon open its web site at www.finrosforum.fi.
The Chairperson of the Finnish-Russian Citizens’ Forum is Ms Heidi Hautala, MP (The Greens). The organisation’s Deputy Chairman is Mr Jukka Mallinen, Chairman of the Finnish PEN Club. The Citizens’ Forum has a nine-member Board. Mr Mikael Storsjö, entrepreneur, serves as the board’s Secretary, and Ms Iida Simes, producer, as the Board’s spokesperson.
The name of the new organisation translates into Swedish as “Finsk-ryska medborgarforumet”, and its domicile is in Helsinki. The Citizens’ Forum carries an unofficial name in Russian: “Finsko-rossiyskiy grazhdanskiy forum”.
The founding members of the Finnish-Russian Citizens’ Forum are:
Rolf Büchi, Nils-Erik Friis, Anu Harju, Heidi Hautala, Frank Johansson, Pekka Koponen, Henrik Lax, Laura Lodenius, Anna-Stiina Lundqvist, Jukka Mallinen, Elisabeth Nordgren, Theresa Norrmén, Kerkko Paananen, Marja Pulkkinen, Elina Rahimova, Ville Ropponen, Iida Simes, Anni Sinnemäki, Mikael Storsjö.
More information:
Ms Heidi Hautala, Chairperson
heidi.hautala@eduskunta.fi
+358 50 511 3129
Mr Jukka Mallinen, Deputy Chairman
jukka.mallinen@kolumbus.fi
+358 9 135 2791
Ms Iida Simes, spokesperson
iida.simes@rosebud.fi
+358 40 720 5985
Mr Mikael Storsjö, Secretary
mikael@officehouse.fi
+358 41 524 2373
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