Court punishes "Memorial" with record-breaking fine

Today, the Tver District Court of Moscow has fined the "International Memorial" by 400,000 roubles for the absence of marking "foreign agent" on one of its websites. This is the largest fine awarded based on the consideration results of the protocols drawn up for the structures of "Memorial" and leaders thereof after the check conducted by the Ingush FSB branch.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that after the above check conducted by the Ingush branch of the FSB, 20 protocols have been drawn up against the "International Memorial", the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" and their leaders. Eight more protocols were drawn up based on complaints of an individual, Andrei Shuvalov. By the outcomes of considering 19 out of 28 protocols, the total amount of awarded fines reached 3.5 million roubles.

Today, Alexander Merkulov, Judge of the Tver District Court, has ruled to recover 400,000 roubles from the "International Memorial" for the absence of "foreign agent" marking on the website "Victims of Political Terror in the USSR". As a result, the amount of all the imposed fines has amounted to 3.9 million roubles.

The today's fine is the largest out of all 20 ones; earlier, they ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 roubles. Tamilla Imanova, a lawyer at the HRC "Memorial", pointed to the court that the marking (label) "foreign agent" is humiliating and contradicts the essence of the activities of the "Memorial".

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 30, 2019 at 03:20 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.