The court in Moscow fined “Mediazon” for violating laws on foreign agents

The Basmanny Court of Moscow fined the legal entity of the “Mediazon” publication for violating the laws on foreign agents. The reason was the lack of marking required by Russian legislation on the publication’s Telegram messages.

It became known about the drawing up of the report in October, when the case card appeared on the court’s website, the newspaper reports. The fine amounted to 300 thousand rubles.

In November, under the same article of the administrative code, chief editor and former publisher of “Mediazon” Sergey Smirnov and Piotr Verzilov were fined. Both of them do not live in Russia. The court fined them 40,000 and 30,000 rubles.

• The Russian Ministry of Justice recognizes as foreign agents NGOs, mass media and public activists who, according to the department, receive funding from abroad or are under foreign influence. The list of so-called agents includes the Russian Service of Radio Liberty, its regional projects and many journalists of the radio station.
• Human rights organizations criticized the wording of laws on foreign agents and their enforcement. The European Court of Human Rights is considering the claim of the Russian service of Radio Liberty against the Russian authorities, in which the application of laws on NGOs is challenged as violating the European Convention on Human Rights.