Russia’s Justice Ministry seeks dissolution of charitable foundation behind Russian LGBT Network

The St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Justice Ministry has asked the courts to liquidate the charitable foundation Sfera, the operator of the Russian LGBT Network.

The foundation told Meduza that the Justice Ministry filed an administrative claim against Sfera with St. Petersburg’s Kuibyshevsky District Court. As of Tuesday, February 8, it has yet to be accepted for consideration.

According to the joint press office for the St. Petersburg courts, the Justice Ministry argues that Sfera’s activities contradict both “the goals of creating a non-profit organization” and “basic, traditional family values.” Following an audit, the agency determined that the foundation's work involves “multiple, gross violations of Russian legislation” that “can’t be remedied.”

Sfera told Meduza that the Justice Ministry conducted an unscheduled audit of the foundation in October 2021. The organization received paperwork with the results of the audit two months later. Among its complaints, the Justice Ministry listed “the foundation’s intention to change the legislation and moral principles of the Russian Federation” and alleged attempts “to sow discord in Russian society by acting in violation of the country’s constitution.”

Sfera disputed the alleged violations and, according to the foundation, received confirmation from the Justice Ministry that it had received their appeal. However, the agency never sent any instructions to eliminate the breaches.

Sfera’s staff consider the attempt to liquidate the charity “the ruling structures’ contribution to neutralizing the entire LGBT human rights movement,” as well as part of the “continued persecution by the authorities of the entire human rights community in Russia.”

• The Sfera foundation creates and coordinates human rights programs and initiatives that offer support and assistance to LGBTQ+ people and their loved ones. It also partners with other organizations with similar aims. The Russian Justice Ministry blacklisted Sfera as a “foreign-agent NGO” in March 2016.
• In 2021, the Justice Ministry declared both the Sfera-linked Russian LGBT Network and its director Igor Kochetkov “foreign agents,” as well. Operating in Russia since 2006, the Russian LGBT Network is best known for its many years of work evacuating at-risk queer people from the repressive Chechen Republic.