On 28 April 2016 in a series of three hearings at Moscow's Meshchansky district court, three administrative fines were levied against the movement For Human Rights, a prominent human rights group led by Lev Ponomarev, each for a total of 300,000 roubles, Radio Svoboda reports. As a result, For Human Rights was fined a total of 900,000 roubles. The cases were brought on the basis of reports by Roskomnadzor, the state communications' oversight agency, that For Human Rights had distributed materials without using the 'foreign agent' label. The materials in question are a journal Vestnik 'V zashchitu prav zakliuchennykh' and two items published on the website of the organization www.zaprava.ru, namely 'Sadists for the "Sadists' Law",' and 'Single person picket outside the State Duma'.
However, For Human Rights has published a statement on its website in which it contends that the official documents drawn up by Roskomnadzor are not accurate. The organization alleges that the actions of Roskomnadzor amount to a fabrication of evidence, which therefore constitutes 'political repression' against the human rights organization, Radio Svoboda reports. For Human Rights points out that is was removed from the 'foreign agent' register more than 6 months ago. 'Evidently,' the organization comments, 'the authorities cannot tolerate this fact.'
Source: 'Движение "За права человека" оштрафовано почти на 1 миллион рублей,' Radio Svoboda, 28 April 2016 'Роскомнадзор: «Дай миллион!»,' Za prava cheloveka, 28 April 2016 |