Vladimir Putin has approved the new make-up of the Russian Presidential Council on the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights, which includes 62 members.

Putin admitted that his opinion might sometimes be different from that of the rights watchdog’s members. However, he urged the advocates not to take offence and promised to do the same, speaking on Monday at the first meeting of the renewed council.

“It should be frank, transparent and honest joint work,” the Russian President underlined. Looking back at his previous experience of cooperation with the top human rights body, the President admitted that not everything that he had considered to be right actually was right.

“Same as I can’t say that everything that the council’s members asked me for was grounded,” Putin noted."

The council – established in 2004 – was significantly reshuffled after a string of resignations that followed disputed parliamentary elections in December 2011 and Putin’s return to the Kremlin in the spring.About a dozen members quit the Council – which initially included 40 rights activists.

The candidates for the vacant posts were selected via a newly-introduced procedure, which was criticized by many rights activists. For a start, the watchdog’s working group selected 86 candidates. Then, public discussions and voting were held on the institution’s website. Finally, the list of candidates was submitted to the President for approval.

One of the contenders, the head of Moscow Bureau for Human Rights Aleksandr Brod, announced a hunger-strike in September after his name was excluded from the list of contenders. During Monday’s meeting Putin agreed to make Brod a member of the council.

Fifteen people, including Russian veteran rights advocate Lyudmila Alekseeva, and the head of Transparency International Russia, Elena Panfilova officially stopped being members of the council.

The chair of the watchdog, Mikhail Fedotov believes though that the former members may become permanent experts in the council’s working groups.

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