The Ministry of Justice of Russia for the first time in three weeks added to the register of “foreign agents”. It includes nine people, including Bi-2 leader Yegor Bortnik (Bi-2 Lev) and anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova.
Besides Bortnik and Arkhipova, economist Vladislav Inozemtsev, Popular Politics channel host Irina Alleman, former State Duma deputy Magomed Gadzhiev, historian Sergei Chernyshov, political scientist Alexander Gabuev, activist Olga Tsukanova and journalist Anna Pshenichnaya (Mukhina) were added to the register.
In addition, the list includes the association “People’s Union of the Revival of Russia” and the social movement “Council of Mothers and Wives”.
The leader of the Bi-2 group, according to the Ministry of Justice, opposed the special military operation (as the Russian authorities still call the military invasion of Ukraine), and also “spoke negatively about the Russian Federation, its citizens and state authorities.”
At the beginning of May, Bortnik wrote on social networks that he was not going to return to Russia, and also quarreled with subscribers about Victory Day. In the spring of 2022, a number of Bi-2 concerts in Russia were canceled after the group refused to perform in Omsk under a banner with the letter Z.
The last time the Ministry of Justice was added to the list of “foreign agents” was on May 5 – seven people were later added to it, including associates of Alexei Navalny Maria Pevchikh and Georgy Alburov, as well only four organizations: the Soft Power movement, the SOS Crisis Group, the publication Taiga .info” and the Russian PEN Club of St. Petersburg.
As of December 1, 2022, when the new unified register of “foreign agents” was published, it had 493 lines. Since then, more than a hundred individuals and organizations have contributed to it – it now has 607 lines.
Earlier this month, MPs proposed adding the concept of ‘third parties’ to the ‘foreign agents’ law. If a message is received about such persons that they “by their actions or inaction” are assisting the “foreign agent” in violating the law, then they will receive a warning about the violation, which must be corrected within a time limit. one month, according to the amendment , which is published in the State Duma database.
“For “foreign agents” there are a number of restrictions, for example, on teaching in schools. At the same time, someone, based on corrupt or other mercenary or personal motives, helps him to find a teaching job. If our bill passes, the Department of Justice may issue a warning. Or, say, a publisher publishes a book by a “foreign agent” without proper marking – there will also be a warning,” said Vasily Piskarev, head of the Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption.
Deputies propose to set fines for non-compliance with the law in the amount of up to 50,000 rubles for citizens and up to 300,000 rubles for organizations.
Source: delfi
