MOSCOW, November 5 (RAPSI) – The Presidential Council for Human Rights is ready to render aid to human rights advocate Lev Ponomaryov in founding a new organization, the advisory body’s deputy chair Irina Kirkora told RAPSI Tuesday.

Over the years, the activity of Ponomaryov has been a flagship of the human rights defense for the human rights community, according to Kirkora. The Council proposes legal and other assistance in the creation of a new organization. Nobody barred Ponomaryov from human rights protection activities and nobody can stop him, she added.

Earlier, the advocate expressed wish to establish a new human rights organization. It is expected to be not a movement but an association without incorporation, he stated.

On November 1, the Supreme Court of Russia granted a Justice Ministry’s move to wind up the Russian civic movement For Human Rights (Za prava cheloveka) headed by Ponomaryov. The NGO was founded on November 20, 1997 and included several dozens of regional and local human rights organizations. In February, it was added to the list of NGOs acting as foreign agents.