The court ordered the Ministry of Justice to exclude the Humanitarian Action Foundation from the register of foreign agents

The St. Petersburg City Court ordered the Ministry of Justice to remove the Humanitarian Action Charitable Foundation from the register of "foreign agents", despite the organization's continued foreign funding. This is the first such case. about the decision of the court . informs The Public Verdict Foundation

Thus, the decision of the Ministry of Justice to include "Humanitarian Action" in the register of NGOs-"foreign agents" was declared illegal. The Foundation was defended by lawyer Maxim Krupsky and head of the Public Verdict legal practice Elena Pershakova.

The Humanitarian Action Charitable Foundation was recognized as a non-profit organization performing the function of a “foreign agent” in December 2020. According to Novaya Gazeta, the reason was the receipt of foreign funding and the foundation's participation in "political activities." In particular, the Ministry of Justice saw “political activity” in an interview with the fund’s employee Alexei Lakhov for Novaya Gazeta, in which he talked about substitution therapy for drug addicts.

Earlier, the Oktyabrsky District Court of St. Petersburg dismissed the claim in connection with the decision of the Ministry of Justice, and human rights activists filed a complaint with the city court. At the same time, on October 5, the Petrogradsky District Court, having considered the claim of the Ministry of Justice about the violation by the fund of the procedure for the activities of an NGO-“foreign agent” (Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses), recognized that the organization had not committed such an offense. The oversight agency then considered that Humanitarian Action did not include itself in the register on its own, but the court then did not find the corpus delicti.

• The St. Petersburg Charitable Foundation "Humanitarian Action" helps HIV-positive people and people with drug addiction. The Foundation has been operating since 2001 and is one of the oldest foundations working with the HIV problem in Russia.

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