The Ministry of Justice has expanded its register of "foreign agents" by adding several Telegram news channels and two individuals. The updated list has appeared on the department's website.
It included:
- Entrepreneur, founder of the shoe sales company Zenden Group Anton Pavlov . In his Telegram channel, Pavlov expresses agreement with the Russian government and suggests getting acquainted with his "work" called "Pavlov's Laws", and at the same time scolds the "organized criminal group within the Federal Tax Service";
- Journalist Renat Davletgildiev , who collaborated with Dozhd, Current Time and other independent publications;
- news telegram channels "BRIEF" and "BRIEF Important" ;
- political telegram channel "Nezygar" ;
- Telegram news channel "Sirena" , created by Navalny's supporters.
The Ministry of Justice also published the traditional "reasons" for inclusion in the register. The department calls all Telegram channels "associations of persons."
On August 20, the BRIEF Team announced the cessation of the work of the channels "Brief. Important" and "Brief. Podcasts". After BRIEF was recognized as a "foreign agent", the editor-in-chief Vladimir Dergachev, his deputy Ekaterina Vinokurova and the editor of special projects Gleb Shkitin left the project.
On August 27, journalist Ekaterina Vinokurova, who worked with Brief, announced that she was leaving the profession.
"My path in big journalism is over. […] Next, I will go into micro-business, which will have nothing to do with politics and journalism," Vinokurova wrote on her Telegram channel.
Vinokurova was included in the register of “foreign agents” as a person affiliated with Brief.
- 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 the "foreign agent" regulation. You can read about who and on what grounds are recognized as "foreign agents", what restrictions these people and organizations face, as well as what risks those who interact with them bear in our report .
- In December 2022, Vladimir Putin also signed a law on imprisonment for "foreign agents" who were held accountable twice in one year under an administrative article on violating the procedure for the activities of a "foreign agent" (Article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses). More than 10 cases have already been opened under the criminal article on evading the duties of a "foreign agent" (Part 2 of Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code) : for example, rapper Oksimiron and feminist activist Daria Serenko were put on the wanted list under it .
- In the fall of 2021, OVD-Info launched the Inoteka project . We study the practice of applying laws on "foreign agents", talk about their impact on civil society and specific people, initiate discussions with experts and propose ways of possible changes. In December 2021, together with the Center for the Protection of Media Rights, we began providing legal support to people and organizations that ended up on the registers of "foreign agents".
- As of January 18, 2024, there are 756 "foreign agents" in the register, including individuals and organizations. Starting in 2022, the list will be expanded more actively: in 2021, 110 individuals and projects became "foreign agents", in 2022 - 188, and in 2023 - already 227. If earlier the instrument of recognition as a "foreign agent" was primarily aimed at journalists, media and human rights activists, now this status has been extended to representatives of other spheres. The list of reasons for inclusion in the register has also expanded : the Ministry of Justice officially admits that it uses the law to persecute people who speak out against the war. As of January 11, 2024, at least 199 "foreign agents" have been excluded from the registers - however, their personal data will remain on the list even after exclusion.