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June 6th, 2015 
David Schulberg 
Over 3,000 protesters have gathered in Moscow to call for science and education reforms in Russia, amid budget cuts and the closure of a leading scientific foundation over a “foreign agent” tag.
About 3,500 protesters have gathered at central Moscow’s Suvorov
Square demanding the Russian government support scientific
research and education by increasing its budget, providing
self-governance and autonomy in education and science and to
respect academic freedoms.
“We [also] demand an immediate stop to the persecution of
science and education organizations, charity funds, as well as
other non-profit organizations using the tag ‘foreign agent’ or
the equivalent,” the protesters’ resolution said.
Москва. Митинг “за науку” pic.twitter.com/VbGPiWcoBs
— Feldman (@EvgenyFeldman) June
6, 2015
Leading scientists,
including the head of the Institute for Information Transmission
Problems, member of the Public Council of the Ministry of
Education Mikhail Gelfand, made speeches at the rally held under
the slogan: “No
science, no future.”
Opposition politicians such as Aleksey Navalny joined the
protests, along with journalists, human rights activists and
students.
The protest follows the closure of The Dynasty Foundation after
the government branded it a “foreign agent” on May 25, a tag
applied to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that receive
funding from abroad and engage in political activities.
Посмотрите про митинг в защиту науки и образования http://t.co/hmzyS1J9iZ pic.twitter.com/kqq5WzbuAF
— Philipp Kireev (@mynameisphilipp)
June 6, 2015
Dmitry Zimin, the
82-year-old founder of the organizational and a telecoms tycoon,
has argued that he financed the foundation from personal bank
accounts located abroad. Shortly after the Dynasty Foundation’s
closure he left Russia.
The Dynasty Foundation was established in 2002 as a non-profit
organization to aid the development of fundamental scientific
research and education, the popularization of science, civic
education and help projects in the sphere of culture. The planned
2015 budget for programs and projects of the foundation was 435
million rubles (about $7.7million).
The Ministry of Justice is not going to review its decision
unless the organization stops being funded from abroad, said
Aleksandr Konovalov, the ministry’s head, as cited by RIA Novosti
on Thursday.
The “Foreign Agents Law,” introduced in Russia in 2012, specifies
that all NGOs receiving funding from abroad and even partially
engaged in political activities, must register as foreign agents.
In May, President Vladimir Putin signed a bill banning the
activities of foreign groups that pose a threat to national
security.
In 2013, Vladimir Putin signed a law to reform the Russian
Academy of Sciences, the country’s leading scientific research
establishment comprising about 50,000 researchers in over 400
institutions. Under the law, the management of most of the
academy’s property was transferred to a new federal government
agency.
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Moscow protesters rally against budget cuts in science, education
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