The court refused to remove the singer Zemfira’s “foreign agent” status

The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow refused to remove the “foreign agent” status of singer Zemfira (Zemfira Ramazanova). TASS reports this.

During a hearing on Zemfira’s claim, a representative of the Ministry of Justice stated that the singer had repeatedly received financial support from foreign sources, and also posted publications in which she condemned the war in Ukraine.

“The only video of my client on YouTube is not political activity, but only her opinion. We cannot comment on anything regarding the allegedly received funds, because the documents are closed and they are not provided to us,” said Zemfira’s representative.

Zemfirawas added to the register of individuals performing the functions of a “foreign agent” on February 10.

• The legislation on “foreign agents” is becoming stricter every year. On December 1, 2022, the law “On control over the activities of persons under foreign influence” came into force, as well as numerous legislative amendments to “foreign agency” regulation. You can read about the list of “affiliated persons”, new registers and other innovations in the law on “foreign agents” in the analysis of OVD-Info .
• In addition, Vladimir Putin signed a law on imprisonment for a term of up to five years for “foreign agents” who were brought to justice twice in a year for violating the procedure for the activities of a “foreign agent” (Article 19.34 of the Administrative Code).
• In the fall of 2021, OVD-Info launched the Inoteka project. We explore the practice of applying laws on “foreign agents”, talk about their impact on civil society and specific people, initiate discussions with experts and suggest ways of possible changes. In December 2021, together with the Center for the Protection of Media Rights, we began to provide legal support to people and organizations that were included in the registers of “foreign agents.”