Court fines HRC "Memorial" by 1.4 million after check by Ingush FSB

All the 20 protocols drawn up by the "Roskomnadzor" (the Russian Federal Service for Supervising Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media) have to do with the absence in the websites and social networks of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" of the note that the HRC had been declared to be a foreign agent, were compiled after the check conducted by one agency – by the Ingush FSB Department, the HRC "Memorial" has stated.

On November 7, the "Roskomnadzor" drew up two protocols for each the HRC "Memorial" and the chairman of its board, Alexander Cherkasov, for the absence of the label of a "foreign agent" in two social networks of the HRC – the Twitter and VKontakte, the HRC's website has reported.

In total, during the latest months, the "Roskomnadzor" has drawn up 20 similar protocols, human rights defenders note.

The Tver Court of Moscow has considered and satisfied six out of the 20 above protocols. The total amount of fines made 1.4 million roubles.

The lawyers of the HRC "Memorial" are litigating all the "Roskomnadzor" protocols, said Marina Agaltsova, a lawyer. According to her version, rights defenders intend to reach the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

"The 'Roskomnadzor' has drawn up protocols on different social networks; however, according to reports published at the same time on a complaint of one and the same body (the Ingush Department of the FSB, – note of the 'Caucasian Knot'). There is judicial practice that such offenses should be interpreted as a single continuing violation. However, we are charged with each network as a separate violation. At the ECtHR, of course, the chances are very high that the Court will take our side," said the lawyer.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 7, 2019 at 11:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.