MOSCOW, April 15 - RAPSI. The Justice Ministry's inspections of NGOs have not revealed elements of extremism, Justice Ministry NGO Department Deputy Chief Tatyana Vahgin said at a Presidential Council for Civil Society Institutions and Human Rights meeting.

Media reported that the inspections were launched to check NGOs for extremism. Sweeping inspections of NGOs began in several regions in late March. Up to 2,000 rights groups and NGOs have been raided by prosecutors and other officials over the past several weeks, according to estimates.

The highly controversial law on NGOs, which took effect in November 2012, requires politically active NGOs with foreign funding sources to register as "foreign agents." Once registered, these NGOs face heightened scrutiny.