The creator of the telegram channel “Angry Chuvashia” and the ex-coordinator of Navalny’s headquarters in Cheboksary, Semyon Kochkin, was fined 30 thousand rubles under the article on violation of “foreign agency” legislation (Part 4 of Article 19.34 of the Administrative Code). this He reported on his Telegram channel.
A protocol was drawn up against him due to the lack of markings on the posts. Kochkin filed an appeal; the Supreme Court of Chuvashia will consider it on September 21. to the register of individual “foreign agents” Kochkin was added in October 2022; in March 2023, the court refused to remove this status from him. In February, Russia blocked Kochkin’s author’s website, which publishes materials about mobilization, the war in Ukraine and problems in Chuvashia.
On September 5 , it became known that Kochkin was put on the federal wanted list. The man is being prosecuted on two counts of a criminal case about discrediting the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 280.3 of the Criminal Code). He himself is not in Russia. The reason for initiating the case was, among other things, a publication in “Angry Chuvashia” dated December 27, 2022. The text speaks negatively about a native of Chuvashia, the head of the Main Computing Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Robert Baranov. According to The Insider 's investigation , Baranov is in charge of missile launches in Ukraine.
A criminal case under the first part of the article on discrediting the army can be initiated if there is at least one court decision on administrative punishment under a similar article that has entered into force (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). Kochkin was fined under it three times: because of a video about a riot by those mobilized from Chuvashia, a YouTube video against mobilization and anti-war posts in his personal channel and in “Angry Chuvashia”.
- 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.”