Lev Ponomaryov, the head of the Russian non-governmental organization For Human Rights, announced today that his organization would refuse to comply with a new law passed by the Duma requiring NGOs to register as “foreign agents” if they seek any international funding, which would subject the organizations to extensive government scrutiny.

“We are declaring a campaign of civil disobedience to laws that have been passed in violation of the Russian Constitution, the European Convention on Human Rights, and other conventions that Russia has signed,” Ponomaryov told Interfax.  “We will never be [foreign] agents and will not obey this law. We are agents of Russian citizens. We will continue to receive foreign grants and will speak about this openly.”

Ponomaryov said he was fully aware that the government would take measures against him and the organization, but that he would oppose using legal methods, including the Constitutional Court.  If For Human Rights is going to be shut down, he wants it to be the deliberate decision of the Russian government.

“We are continuing in the tradition of the Soviet dissident movement, whose members were not afraid of much harsher punishments,” he said.

Read the full story on RFE/RL’s The Power Vertical.