Yulia Galyamina filed a lawsuit against the Russian Academy of Sciences because of her dismissal

Politician and teacher Yulia Galyamina filed a lawsuit against the Russian Academy of Sciences due to her dismissal. Galyamina was dismissed from the university in January under the law on foreign agents.

“I perfectly understand that the court of the first instance will reject me, referring to the fact that the academy acted according to the law. But this is what I need!”, Galyamina wrote. She explained that as the first teacher affected by the law on foreign agents, she is going to challenge it in the Constitutional Court.

Galyamina was fired from the position of associate professor of the Department of Theory and Practice of Media Communications at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the Law on Foreign Agents, which was tightened in December 2022. Among other things, according to the document, “foreign agents” are now prohibited from teaching in state educational establishments.

The Russian authorities declared Galyamina a foreign agent in September 2022 because of 15,000 rubles, which the Berlin-based Heinrich Böll Foundation allegedly transferred to her. Galyamina herself claims that she does not remember whether she ever received money from abroad.

Now there are about 400 “foreign agents” in the register: individuals, mass media, NGOs and companies. According to the law, anyone who is under “foreign influence” can be declared a foreign agent, the definition of which is very vague.

• The status of foreign agent obliges, among other things, to report quarterly on the movement of funds on personal accounts and to mark all public messages. Errors in the report or lack of marking are punishable up to imprisonment.
• In December, the legislation regarding “foreign agents” was tightened. In particular, they were forbidden to teach in state institutions, be organizers of public events, serve in the army under contract, and be members of election commissions. Any information produced by “foreign agents” is prohibited for distribution to children.