In Russia, for the first time, a fine was imposed for commenting on “undesirable” mass media

In Buryatia, activist Nadezhda Nizovkina was fined five thousand rubles for speaking on the air of the “Dozhd” TV channel. As Mediazona reports, this is the first fine for commenting on “undesirable” mass media in Russia.

Nizovkina was found guilty under the article of participation in the activities of the so-called undesirable organization. The activist commented on the TV channel about the beating in the orphanage of the adopted son of the human rights activist Natalya Filonova.

In December, Nizovkina was found guilty under the administrative article of participation in the activities of an “undesirable organization” and fined five thousand rubles. It was about her participation in the seventh international forum “Post-Russia”, which was held in Tokyo. The transcript of her speech is cited in the case file, in which, according to the police, Nyzovkina expressed the need for the Republic of Buryatia to withdraw from the Russian Federation and conclude a separate peace with Ukraine.

Nizovkina called this fine a “preliminary stage” of her criminal prosecution. In May, a criminal case was opened against the human rights defender under the article on refusal to testify.

• Nadezhda Nyzovkina is a well-known human rights activist in Ulan-Ude. She represents the interests of opposition activists in administrative and criminal cases. One of the last high-profile cases that Nizovkina dealt with was the prosecution of pensioner Natalya Filonova in the case of an attack on police officers after a rally against mobilization for war in Ukraine in 2022. In August, the court in Ulan-Ude sentenced Filonova to two years and ten months in a general regime colony.
• TV channel “Dozhd” was recognized as an “undesirable organization” in Russia in the summer of 2023.