The Tushinsky District Court of Moscow, until June 27, arrested local resident Natalya Minenkova, accused of organizing the activities of an “undesirable organization” (Part 3 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code). She is accused of having connections with the Falun Dafa association, which unites followers of the spiritual practice Falun Gong, which originated in China. The press service of the Moscow courts writes about this in a telegram.
According to investigators, Minenkova is a member of the Association “Falun Dafa Center for Spiritual and Physical Improvement.” It is alleged that the woman “acted as an organizer, developed and carried out a number of events aimed at continuing and popularizing the activities of organizations banned on the territory of the Russian Federation,” and also “applied various secrecy measures to communicate with members of the Center.”
The court does not specify which of the “undesirable organizations” the defendant in the case is accused of organizing: in 2020, the Prosecutor General’s Office recognized seven organizations associated with Falun Gong as such. At the same time, the press service of the court in the message marks as “undesirable” a certain “Chinese totalitarian sect” “Falun Gong”, and notes that it is included in the register of “undesirable organizations” of the Ministry of Justice. However, there is no organization with this exact name in the register. Further in the message, the press service writes about “popularizing the activities” of several organizations at once, but does not specify which ones.
On May 3, it became known that four people suspected of connections with Falun Dafa had been detained in Moscow, and at the same time the Investigative Committee announced the initiation of a criminal case under the article on organizing the activities of an “undesirable organization.” The publication Activatika, citing its sources, claims that the security forces released the remaining three detainees.
- Since 2015, according to Russian legislation , foreign or international organizations that, in the opinion of the authorities, pose a “threat to the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, the defense capability of the country or the security of the state” can be recognized as “undesirable” under Russian law. Such organizations are prohibited from operating in the country, and a number of other restrictions are also imposed on them - for example, they are not allowed to distribute information materials in Russia. The decision on recognition is made by the Prosecutor General's Office in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More information about which organizations were included in the list can be found in the OVD-Info project “ Inoteka ”.
- For participation in the activities of an “undesirable organization,” administrative liability is provided (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, maximum penalty - a fine of up to 15 thousand rubles for citizens), and with repeated participation, criminal liability (Part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code, maximum penalty - imprisonment for up to four years). Article 284.1 also applies to financing or organizing the activities of an “undesirable organization”, in which case the punishment can be up to five and up to six years in prison, respectively.
- Human rights organization Amnesty International called the "undesirable organizations" law a way to "vilify independent NGOs, deprive them of funding and impose harsh penalties on their members." The law, according to human rights activists, is used “to combat dissent and stifle freedom of expression and independent civil society organizations in Russia.” The UN Human Rights Committee recommended that Russia repeal or revise legislation on “undesirable organizations.”
- Falun Gong is a system of spiritual and physical cultivation developed by Li Hongzhi in the early 1990s in China. Falun Gong practitioners practice meditation through exercises to improve physical health and to achieve moral and spiritual purity. Supporters of the system face persecution for criticizing Chinese authorities.