Translated material
Military secret
The FSB will form another suburb of "foreign agents"
On September 29, the Ministry of Justice recognized 21 people to “foreign agents”, of whom only Sergey Smirnov and Pyold Verzilov, the editor-in-chief and publisher of the Mediazones, respectively, can be attributed to “journalists”, the remaining 19 are coordinators of the movement of observers in the Voice elections. In total, such “physics agents” in the register of the Ministry of Justice 47-and this is so far only one branch, formed on the basis of “classes of political activity”.
The second branch, which, in theory, should grow from the same article 2.1 entered into the “Law of Dima Yakovlev” on December 30 last year, can be formed on the basis of “targeted collection of information in the field of military and military-technical activities”, the list of which on October 1, in accordance with the same law, published by the FSB of the Russian Federation.
At the stage of discussing the draft of this document on the public portal, experts in the field of the same military and military-technical activity indicated that it covers “about everything”, which has not yet been classified as state secret. This criticism did not affect the approval of the document, and although the publication, for example, is not prohibited for information on the army, their “collection” now threatens journalists with the status of a “foreign agent”-if at the same time they receive (or received) some help from abroad.
But with this sign it is even more difficult to figure out, since Article 2.1 itself is stated as if in an encrypted form. Here is its text, simplified by subtracting what relates to the branch of "political activity":
“An individual ... can be recognized as an individual who performs the functions of a foreign agent if it carries out in the interests of a foreign state, its state bodies, international or foreign organization, foreign citizens or stateless persons (hereinafter referred to as a foreign source) ... targeted collection of information in the field of military, military-technical activity of the Russian Federation, which, when they receive a foreign source, can be used against the security of the Russian Federation ... due to their security ... due a foreign source or in the interests of a foreign source by citizens of the Russian Federation, Russian organizations, expressed in support of these types of activities (including the provision of funds, other property or organizational and methodological assistance). ”
He has to hear ears, but hears: "... in his (foreign source) interests and" in connection with the impact on him (that is, on the journalist). " Further, it is legally necessary to raise the question of the burden of proof:
Who should prove that the organizers of the conference abroad, in which this journalist took part 3 years ago and ate something there at dinner, “had an impact on it”?
Or are the “interest of a foreign source” and “impact” are presented?
And how and where in the latter case, the candidate for “agents” can refute this?
The answer gives the already emerging practice of recognition by “foreign agents” on the basis of political activity. The status of an “agent”, actually enthusiastically infringed on the right of a journalist, is assigned as an extrajudicial order, and no one has yet managed to challenge it in court: while the claims of the “open media” journalists Maxim Glykin* and Julia Yarosh* have been transferred from the district courts to the Moscow City Court on the grounds that the ministe also considers the “foreign financing” to “state secret”.
The sign of “political activity” was formulated in the December 2.1 “Dima Yakovlev Law” and in the practice of the Ministry of Justice so widely that there is no special need for the formation of another squad of “agents”-a “list of information”, which has just been published by the FSB, only a preventive role will play: so that no one “into the field of military and military-technical activity”, especially in terms of expenses for them from them from them state budget.