Fine “Ecoprotection!” under the article on violation of the law on “foreign agents” was canceled, the case was dismissed

On February 10, the Moskovsky District Court of Kaliningrad canceled the fine and dismissed the administrative case against the non-profit organization Ecodefense! under the article about "foreign agents". This was reported to OVD-Info by the lawyer of the Public Verdict, Elena Pershakova, who, together with her colleague Alexei Laptev, defended NGOs in court.

As Elena Pershakova said, Ecodefense did not receive a notification that in the summer of 2018, administrative proceedings were initiated against the organization under the article on failure to provide information to an NPO recognized as a foreign agent (Article 19.7.5–2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), but on November 8, 2018 a fine of Rs 10,000 was imposed.

According to the tracking tracks of mail items, it was established that "Ecoprotection!" did not receive court notices. The defense of the NGO requested the relevant documents, and in the fall of 2019, the administrative case began to be considered anew. At first, the court refused to accept the complaint, but then on appeal, administrative proceedings in relation to Ecodefense! stopped, and the penalty was canceled.

• In June 2019, against the director of Ecodefense! Alexandra Koroleva initiated five criminal cases under the article on malicious non-execution of a court decision (part 2 of article 315 of the Criminal Code). The reason was the five fines that the court had previously imposed on Ecodefense! for non-compliance with the law on foreign agents: the organization fundamentally does not recognize itself as a foreign agent and does not submit reports to the Ministry of Justice.
• NPO Ecodefense! exists since 1986. The organization opposes the construction of nuclear power plants and open-pit coal mining in the Kuzbass. In 2013, activists managed to stop the construction of the Baltic NPP in the Kaliningrad region. Already in July 2014, Ecodefense! recognized as a foreign agent.
• In April 2017, the NGO Ecodefense! was fined 100,000 rubles under the article on the failure of a "foreign agent" to provide information to the Ministry of Justice (Article 19.7.5–2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). In January 2020, this decision was canceled .