On May 21, the Leninsky District Court of Sevastopol fined journalist Anastasia Zhvik 10,000 rubles under the article on participation in an undesirable organization (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). Mediazona draws attention to the case file on the court's website.
The protocol was drawn up in April. According to Mediazona, the probable reason for the prosecution was Zhvik's articles published on Meduza. The journalist herself refused to give Mediazona a comment regarding the administrative case, and this information was hidden from the ruling on the court's website. In addition to Meduza, Zhvik collaborated with a number of other publications.
The journalist herself is outside of Russia.
On December 23, 2022, Anastasia Zhvik was recognized as a "foreign agent". In addition, in 2022 and 2023, she was fined twice under the article on discrediting the Russian army (Part 1 of Article 20.3.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) due to anti-war publications on Instagram.
Meduza was recognized as an “undesirable organization” in January 2023.
- Since 2015, according to Russian law , foreign or international organizations that, in the opinion of the authorities, pose a "threat to the foundations of the constitutional order of the Russian Federation, the country's defense capability, or state security" can be recognized as "undesirable." Such organizations are prohibited from operating in the country, and a number of other restrictions are imposed on them - for example, they are not allowed to distribute information materials in Russia. The decision to recognize is made by the Prosecutor General's Office in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More information about which organizations have been added to the list can be found in the OVD-Info project " Inoteka ."
- Participation in the activities of an "undesirable organization" is subject to administrative liability (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to 15 thousand rubles for citizens), and in case of repeated participation, criminal liability (Part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for up to four years). Article 284.1 is also applied for financing or organizing the activities of an "undesirable organization", in which case the punishment may be up to five and up to six years of imprisonment, respectively.
- The international human rights organization Amnesty International called the law on “undesirable organizations” a way to “denigrate 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 the legislation on “undesirable organizations.”