The Ministry of Justice of Russia is training experts to recognize people as “foreign agents”

The Ministry of Justice of Russia began training experts to recognize people as “foreign agents.” In the department, they are called specialists in political research of information materials. A specially developed program is used for their training. Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Center for Forensic Expertise under the Ministry of Justice Georgy Omelyanyuk told about this during a speech in Novosibirsk.

According to him, three experts are currently being trained, two of whom are doctors of science and one is a candidate. A program of additional professional training was prepared for them, so that they could conduct a political examination when recognizing organizations or citizens of Russia as “foreign agents.” The same examination will be carried out in cases of distribution of extremist materials, calls for mass riots and election violations.

Experts will have to establish “the fact of implementation of political activity”. It will cover political speeches, statements, appeals, statutory documents and programs of political organizations.

“Comments left on the Internet are objects of political expertise,” Omelianiuk noted, among other things. Also, he said, methods of judicial-religionist and judicial-ethical expertise are being developed, reports Sever.Realii.

• Legislation on “foreign agents” in Russia appeared in 2012. The law allowed the Ministry of Justice to recognize non-profit organizations as “foreign agents” if they receive funding from abroad and engage in political activity. The criteria by which such activity is determined are not clearly defined in the law, which allows the authorities to prosecute organizations working in the fields of education, culture, health care, ecology, and protection of human rights. Subsequently, it became possible to recognize mass media, individuals and associations without a legal entity as “foreign agents”.
• A new law on “foreign agents” entered into force on December 1. In order to declare a citizen a foreign agent, it is no longer necessary to prove that he receives funding from abroad: it is enough for the authorities to recognize the very fact of “foreign influence”, and the wording of what exactly is to be considered foreign influence is extremely vague in the law.
• Now there are 697 positions in the register of “foreign agents” – these are both organizations and mass media, as well as people. “Foreign agents” are prohibited from participating in elections, conducting educational and educational activities, and receiving state funding. In addition, administrative and criminal liability is provided for non-fulfillment of obligations imposed by Russian laws on “foreign agents”.
• The human rights project “OVD-Info” noted that in the last few months, the Russian authorities have increased pressure on people deemed to be “foreign agents” – they are mass-produced reports for the lack of marking. Two fines entered into force under the administrative article on non-fulfillment of the law on “foreign agents” may lead to the initiation of a criminal case. At least one criminal case has been opened – against Tver activist Artem Vazhenkov.