There is no this money, it will not and cannot be

Lawyer Vadim Prokhorov on a fine that can lead to the closure of The New Times

On October 26, the Tver District Court was fined by The New Times and its editor -in -chief Yevgeny Albats for 22 million rubles. The court found that the publication violated Article 13.15.1 of the Administrative Code, requiring the media to provide information on receipt of funds in Roskomnadzor in a timely manner. Evgenia Albats said that the administrative case on which the decision was made was returned to the prosecutor’s office in July, and the statute of limitations for it had long expired. The lawyer Albats and The New Times Vadim Prokhorov told Medusa, for which the magazine was fined.

- What happened? Where did the fine of 22 million rubles for failure to comply with the requirements of Roskomnadzor come from?

- There is such a fund for support for freedom of the press , which supported the publication of The New Times, it was largely funded by Zimin's funds. Fund [in July 2015] recognized as a foreign agent. A couple of years ago, an article 19.2 on the need to provide information in Roskomnadzor - if you receive foreign funding, in the media law. This is not connected either with the economy of the publication or with tax evasion. Just inform. And they introduced the norm - Article 13.15.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, it was first applied in history in this matter. The Dragon Norma, she says that if someone was not notant Roskomnadzor [about foreign financing], the entire amount is recovered, it is possible even in two times. At the same time, there is a tax inspectorate, Rosfinmonitoring - no one hid from them where the magazine got the money.

- But there were no complaints about the magazine?

- Until a certain point. In April 2018, a certain deputy [State Duma from “Fair Russia”] Nikolai Ryzhak, a graduate of the Higher School of the KGB, filed a request for conducting the check of the Winter, and the Tver Interdistrict Prosecutor's Office decided to hold The New Times accountable for [reporting] in 2017, since starting from the second quarter of 2018, we are information in Roskomnadzor. Submitted. I gave the prosecutor's office explanations that under this article the statute of limitations has expired, it is three months. The prosecutor’s office conducted an audit and really refused to bring to administrative responsibility due to the fact that the statute of limitations expired.

- That is, the case was exhausted?

- Yes, but the deputy Ryzhak continued to send his requests to the prosecutor general. At the end of September, we were again called to the prosecutor’s office and said that they still decided to initiate an administrative case. The case was given to the justice of the peace [Maria] Shvedova, who got acquainted with the materials and on September 26 rightly returned him to the prosecutor's office in connection with the expiration of the statute of limitations. The prosecutor appealed this in the Tver District Court. Everything went very slowly until October 22, when Evgenia Albats and Alexei Navalny took the air on Echo of Moscow, where he said, for example, whom he considers the head of the mafia in Russia. The same air said that Albats publishes The New Times. The next day, October 23, literally everyone begins to look for me as a representative of the magazine. The district police officers, call, write. We searched for us to appoint a process in the Tver District Court in the protest of the prosecutor. We were very surprised by the speed with which decisions were made.

- What happened at the trial?

- On Thursday, October 25, at 12 o’clock I appeared in the Tver District Court. Judge Olga Zomatskaya did not understand for a long time, canceled the decision of the magistrate court and returned to a new consideration. And already three hours after the end of the district court, a magistrate court took place! I do not remember a single case in my practice - and in general in recent history, when, after the second instance on the same day [re -], the first was held. There was neither Albats nor me at this trial, only representatives of the prosecutor's office.

- Where did the amount of the fine come from?

-22 million-this is the whole amount of financing of the magazine from the second quarter of 2017 to the first quarter of 2018.

- What will you do next?

- It is clear that the decision is unprecedented. Appeal? At first, the decision will come to the same judge of Zatoskaya. As for her, we do not have illusions. Of course, we will further appeal in the Moscow City Court. If there is a refusal there, we will make every effort so that the Supreme Court pays attention to this case. Judge Zatskaya, in fact, canceled the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court on the practice of applying the Code of Administrative Offenses of March 24, 2005. According to this resolution, if the article suggests that someone has not fulfilled something by a certain date, then the term begins to count after the last day when they must provide information. And the last incriminated deadline has expired on July 11, 2018. Here you need to either change the decision, or cancel the decision about The New Times. And certainly in parallel we will understand the European court. A more infinite solution is difficult to come up with.

-At the same time, you recognize violation of the law-the magazine in 2017 did not inform Roskomnadzor?

- There are problems - one law firm dealt with the business of the fund, then they stopped doing this. Indeed, at some stage [business] came out of control. There are some shortcomings. But until April 2018, this was not interested in anyone.

- Is it possible to say that 22 million is an excessive amount for the publication and this requirement leads to its inevitable closure?

- This money is not, it will not and cannot be. This is the amount for the year, and this year [financial] the situation has only worsened.

Ilya Zhegulev