HRC "Memorial" fined by 300,000 roubles

The court has ruled that the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" has broken the law by publishing some material without labelling it that the publisher is a foreign agent. The lawyer of the HRC said that the Centre had nothing to do with the material in question and was fined because of a bureaucratic error.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July 2014 it became known that the HRC "Memorial" was put on the registry of non-profit organizations (NPOs) recognized in Russia as foreign agents. The HRC treated the decision of prosecutors, who found political aspect in its work, as a mistake.

The violation of the law on foreign agents in the work of the HRC was found by the "Roskomnadzor" (the Russian Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media). According to the latter's lawsuit, the materials publishes by the HRC shall be marked with a sign of "foreign agent", but the HRC "Memorial" failed to do it, the "Echo Moskvy" Radio has reported.

Kirill Koroteev, the lawyer of the HRC, said at the court session that the material referred to in the protocols of the "Roskomnadzor" was published by the International Historical-Educational Centre "Memorial", and not by the HRC, which has the same name. According to the lawyer, there was a bureaucratic error made in this case.

Despite the explanations of the respondent, the Magistrate Court has satisfied the demand of the "Roskomnadzor" and fined the HRC "Memorial" by 300,000 roubles, the "Interfax" wrote today.

Let us remind you that the HRC "Memorial" is a part of International Historic-Educational and Human Rights Society "Memorial" and is engaged in protecting human rights, including in the Caucasus.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.