A court in Moscow fined Morgenstern seven million rubles in a “foreign agent” case

The Moscow Magistrate's Court sentenced rapper Alisher Morgenstern in absentia to a fine of seven million rubles in a criminal case for failure to fulfill the duties of a “foreign agent” (Part 2 of Article 330.1 of the Criminal Code), Mediazona reports.

The reason for the persecution was Morgenstern’s posts published on Telegram, Instagram and YouTube between March and June 2024 without the labels of a “foreign agent.” The state prosecution demanded a fine of eight million 206 thousand rubles for the rapper.

Lawyer Ildar Islamov, representing the artist’s interests, stated in the debate that there was not enough evidence to admit Morgenstern’s guilt, and a criminal case was opened because of already deleted posts.

• Before the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, Morgenstern repeatedly spoke positively about the policies of Vladimir Putin, but after it began, he changed his position on this issue and left Russia. In May 2022, he was declared a “foreign agent.” In 2024, a case was opened against him under the article of failure to fulfill the duties of a “foreign agent” and he was put on the wanted list in the Russian Federation. The rapper's Moscow property was seized.