Hautala also met representatives and human rights defenders to discuss their situation. Grave concerns expressed about the current NGO law and pervasive monitoring by the E-centre of their activities. Great concerns were also expressed about the overtly broad interpretation of the so-called anti-extremist laws of the Russian criminal code, which are being used to silence political dissent and free speech and the role of E-center facilitating the crackdown of the human rights activists in this regard.