The Moscow City Court upheld a 600 thousand ruble fine to Memorials for not being labeled as a “foreign agent”

The Moscow City Court upheld fines of 300,000 rubles each imposed on the Human Rights Center "Memorial" and "Memorial International" for not being labeled a "foreign agent". This was reported to OVD-Info by Yulia Orlova, the press secretary of Memorial HRC.

The organizations were found guilty of violating the law on “foreign agents” (part 2 of article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). The case against Memorial Human Rights Center is connected with the absence of a “foreign agent” marking on the organization’s VKontakte page, and against the “International Memorial” – with the absence of a marking on the website “1968 – the year of human rights”.

Memorials has already been fined under these protocols, but the Moscow City Court canceled the decisions and sent the cases for a new trial, since the organizations had not been warned about the meetings. After reviewing the cases, the court of first instance again fined the organizations.

• The Human Rights Center "Memorial" was recognized as a "foreign agent" in 2014, the International Society "Memorial" - in 2016. In 2019, Memorial HRC and International Memorial drew up at least 28 protocols on non-compliance with the law on foreign agents. The total amount of fines has already reached 5.3 million rubles following the results of 32 meetings. "Memorial" is collecting donations to pay fines under the article on "foreign agents".
• In early December 2020, the prosecutor's office came with a surprise check to the Memorial Human Rights Center. The subject of the audit was the implementation of the law on the activities of a non-profit organization entered in the register of foreign agents. The prosecutor's office then also demanded a huge set of documents related to the publications of "Memorial" and the speeches of its employees.
• Also in December, a draft law was submitted to the State Duma providing for criminal liability for employees of NGOs, the media and individuals who do not fulfill the duties prescribed for “foreign agents”.