MOSCOW, January 10 (RAPSI) – The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow on Friday fined Memorial human rights center 300,000 rubles (about $5,000) for violation of the foreign agent law, RAPSI was told in the court’s press service.
The NGO was penalized for the absence of a “foreign agent” marking on social media platforms. Problems with the Russian communications agency Roskomnadzor have been caused by a publication on the VKontakte page of the organization.
In October, the court fined Memorial 300,000 rubles for failure to label its publications on the Facebook page of the NGO’s representative office in the Republic of Ingushetia.
The total amount of fines imposed on the organization is now 4.5 million rubles (over $73,000).
A federal law adopted in November 2012 requires that all NGOs engaged in political activity and receiving foreign funding register as “foreign agents” or face fines. In June 2013, the Justice Ministry was granted authority to classify NGOs as foreign agents at its own discretion and included a number of organizations in its register.
Memorial was declared “foreign agent” by the Russian Justice Ministry in July 2014. In 2015, it was added to the so-called foreign agents list.