When Dmitry Medvedev became president, he was successful in attracting several leading reformers to join his government and act on behalf of a presidential Human Rights Council. However, after years of inaction and the government ignoring the Council’s recommendations, two leading members of the Council plan to resign as a show of protest before the inauguration of Vladimir Putin’s third term on May 7.

According to RTTNews, among those planning to leave the human rights body are Transparency International Russia chief Yelena Panfilova, political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin and Civil Cooperation head Svetlana Gannushkina.

Panfilova, who presented a report on corruption at the last Council meeting on Saturday, said she remained in the Council only because of the pledge she gave to the mother of Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in pre-trial detention in 2009, to investigate his death. “I think I’ll do much more with my civil activity within my current job,” Panfilova said in an interview with Kommersant daily.

Read the full story at RTT News.