On the final day of the G8 summit in St Petersburg in July 2006, Cherie Booth QC, visited a group of non-governmental organisations, whose position is now particularly difficult because of a new NGO law which clamps down on their activities. In January 2006, president Vladimir Putin signed a new law on non-governmental organisations that allows the Justice Ministry to demand any document from an NGO at any time, without a warrant, and to ban NGO projects, or even parts of projects, for not complying with Russia's national interests.
Ms Booth offered to make the visit when she met representatives of Human Rights Watch at Downing Street in April 2006. The visit was organised by Human Rights Watch and hosted by the St Petersburg NGO Grazhdansky Kontrol (Civic Control). During the St Petersburg meeting, Cherie Booth QC, listened to the NGOs and offered her support. The visit gained widespread attention in the UK, Russian and international media, including the following:
BBC News Online: "Cherie has Russian rights talks" Monday July 17th 2006
