Russia bans charity foundation created by George Clooney

Russia announced Monday that it has declared the Clooney Foundation for Justice "undesirable," effectively banning the charity founded by George Clooney and his wife, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney.

The announcement was made by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office through a statement on Telegram in which it accused the NGO of "carrying out extensive work aimed at discrediting Russia, actively supporting false patriots and members of banned extremist and terrorist groups."

To this end, the prosecution denounced, the NGO allied itself with the "upper echelons of Hollywood" and created various campaigns with the intention of "discrediting Russia":

"Under the guise of humanitarian ideas, these 'fighters for justice' promote initiatives to bring criminal actions against the highest Russian authorities," the prosecutor's office denounced. Reason why, the prosecutor's office noted, they had decided to prevent the NGO from operating in the country:

"The activities of the NGO Clooney Foundation for Justice are declared undesirable on the territory of our country."Statement from the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.

Founded in 2016, the Clooney Foundation for Justice claims on its website that its main goal is to "advocate for justice through accountability for all human rights abuses around the world."

For that reason, the charity denounced several of the activities carried out by the Russian government in recent months, especially since the invasion of Ukraine began.

In July, together with the NGOs Legal Action Worldwide and Truth Hounds, they denounced Russia at the United Nations Human Rights Committee for the Russian missile attack on the Ukrainian town of Vinnytsia.

But the Russian authorities had taken a dim view of the Clooney Foundation for Justice's activities for some time. The Daily Beast reported in June on a threat issued by Russian security chief Dmitry Medvedev, against the NGO asserting that the interpreter wanted "to hunt down Russian journalists all over the world and persecute them" but that the interpreter should be aware that Russian journalists "will find him first."