Human rights activists fined for holding livestream with former oil executive and Putin rival Mikhail Khodorkovsky

The Moscow branch of Open Russia, a human rights organization with ties to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, held a live call with the former oil executive and opposition politician on February 27. During the event, police officers entered Open Russia’s office and recorded the identifying information of all 60 audience members present.

In April, branch leader Tatyana Usmanova and board member Alexander Solovyov were cited for participating in an “undesirable organization” as a result of the call. Now, each of them has been fined 5,000 rubles (almost $80). Anyone fined twice under Russia’s “undesirable organizations” law in a single year can face criminal charges.

Open Russia noted that this was the first application of the law within Moscow.