By James Kilner MOSCOW, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Russian authorities have refused to register the representative office of a Dutch-based human rights group, which provides legal aid to Chechens alleging crimes by Russian soldiers, the group said on Thursday. Russia's Federal Registration Service informed the Russian Justice Initiative non-governmental organisation (NGO) last week that its application had been turned down, citing poorly submitted documents. The Russian Justice Initiative is the first high-profile group denied a licence under a law introduced last month that critics said was designed to ban and harass organisations unpopular with the authorities. Kremlin officials have said the law was needed to stop terrorists, money launderers and foreign spies using NGOs as cover. "We are highly surprised at this decision," Jan ter Laak, the chairman of the board of Russian Justice Initiative, said in a statement e-mailed to news agencies. "We closely consulted with the officials of the Federal Registration Service over the past several months and prepared all the documents in accordance with their instructions." Russian government departments could not be reached for comment after hours on Thursday. Chechens helped by the Russian Justice Initiative have won cases this year in the European Court of Human Rights against the Russian government for human rights abuses. The Dutch, Norwegian and French governments have all funded the Russian Justice Initiative whose board members work for worldwide human rights groups such as the Helsinki Committee and Human Rights Watch. Both the Helsinki Committee and Human Rights Watch have received a licence under the new law. The Russian Justice Initiative has been working in Chechnya and Russia since 2000 first under the title of the Chechnya Justice Initiative.
