Translated material
The Ministry of Justice declared Dozhd, Important Stories and seven other people foreign agents
On August 20, the Ministry of Justice in the register of media outlets acting as foreign agents. included the Dozhd TV channel and the Important Stories publication
Seven new individuals-foreign agents also appeared on the list. These are the journalists of Important Stories Roman Anin, Olesya Shmagun, Dmitry Velikovsky, Alesya Marokhovskaya, Irina Dolinina, Roman Shleinov and the head of the non-profit organization Yakutia - Our Opinion Stepan Petrov.
24 August 16:51 According to Dozhd 's general director Natalya Sindeyeva to Novaya Gazeta, one of the reasons why the TV channel was recognized as a "foreign agent" is the receipt of funds from charitable foundations. Among them is the "Sakharov Center", recognized as a "foreign agent". Dozhd reported to Roskomnadzor on the use of these funds in accordance with the requirements of the law, Sindeeva said.
Another reason was the quoting of the media, recognized as "foreign agents", on the Dozhd TV channel.
On December 7, the Ministry of Justice explained on what grounds Important Stories was included in the media register as “foreign agents”. about it . writes Meduza
The official objections of the department to the publication challenging the status of "foreign agent" indicate the following grounds for inclusion in the register:
- a tweet in support of Meduza with a link to the donation site;
- news on the website of Radio Liberty and its regional offices, written on the basis of the investigations of Important Stories.
The Ministry of Justice also indicated that the bulk of the editorial staff work outside of Russia. Important Stories emphasizes that 80% of the editorial staff lives and works in Moscow.
- On August 17, Irina Dolinina and Alesya Marokhovskaya reported that their phone numbers were constantly receiving SMS and “dumb” calls. In December 2020, unidentified people tried to hack the social media accounts of Irina Dolinina and Alesya Marokhovskaya, as well as other employees of Important Stories. This happened after the publication of an investigation into the alleged former son-in-law of Vladimir Putin.
- As of August 20, the register of media-foreign agents included 18 media outlets and 25 people. Among them are Radio Liberty, Meduza, The Insider , activists and journalists.
- At the end of December 2020, the State Duma adopted changes to the legislation on "foreign agents". According to the new clarifications, the status of a "foreign agent" can be obtained by an individual engaged in political activities and receiving money from abroad for this. Another draft law prohibits the dissemination of information from “foreign agents” in the media without a special mark.