Kazakhstan's tax police announced Tuesday that the Open Society Institute, the civil society organization backed by billionaire George Soros, faces criminal charges for failing to pay $623,000 in taxes.
Tax police spokesman Ruslan Tlemisov said the case will go before a district court early next year. Beyond recovering the unpaid amount, the court could impose additional fines and revoke the foundation's operating licence.
The charges add to mounting pressure on Soros's philanthropic network across the former Soviet sphere. The Open Society Institute has already been expelled from Belarus and Uzbekistan, and its Russian operations were severely restricted the previous November over a property dispute.
Soros has drawn criticism from several post-Soviet governments over his alleged backing of the movement that ousted Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze in 2003. In March, two protesters doused him with water and glue at a human rights conference in Ukraine.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in December 2004, in its own words.