Novocherkassk court postpones deadline for paying fine for Don Women Union by three months

The Novocherkassk Magistrate Court of the Rostov Region has postponed by three months the payment by the Don Women Union of the fine imposed for their work without getting registered as a foreign agent.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 8 the magistrate judge in the Rostov Region fined the Don Women Union by 300,000 roubles for the women’s alleged political activities without entering the register of foreign agents. On August 15, the Novocherkassk City Court dismissed the Union’s to appeal against the fine and ruled that the fine should be paid until October 15, 2014.

According to Valentina Cherevatenko, the head of the Union, the lawsuit to postpone the deadline was caused by the discussion still underway of the amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences aimed to reduce the minimum amount of the administrative fine imposable for the activities of a non-profit organization (NPO) that operates as a foreign agent but not registered as such.

"We have already filed a supervisory appeal against the fine decision. Besides, we are preparing documents to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). We also filed a lawsuit against the decision of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to put us on the registry of foreign agents," Ms Cherevatenko has added.

According to Kirill Koroteev, a lawyer of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", there is no procedure for removal of an organization out of the register of foreign agents. His words were confirmed by Elena Pershakova, a lawyer and the head of the legal division of the Foundation "Public Verdict".