Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation issued two fines for violating Russia’s ‘foreign agents’ law

On Tuesday, July 28, Moscow’s Simonovsky Court issued two 300,000-ruble ($4,140) fines to opposition leader Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) for violating Russia’s “foreign agents” law, MBK Media reports.

The first fine was issued for failing to include a “foreign agent” label on Navalny’s YouTube channel, “Navalny Live.”

During the hearing, the foundation’s lawyer, Alexander Pomazuyev, said that “the FBK doesn’t publish any information on the ‘Navalny Live’ channel,” maintaining that it is “financed from other sources.”

The second fine was issued to the organization for failing to voluntarily register itself as a “foreign agent.”

In March 2020, the FBK was fined 500,000 rubles ($6,900) for failing to include a “foreign agent” label on its Instagram account. Then, in July, the Simonovsky Court issued two 100,000-ruble ($1,380) fines to FBK director Ivan Zhdanov due to the lack of “foreign agent” labels on the FBK’s Instagram account and the YouTube channel “Navalny Live.”

On July 20, FBK founder Alexey Navalny announced plans to dissolve the non-profit and establish a new organization. According to Navalny, the decision came after the company “Moskovsky Shkolnik” — allegedly affiliated with Kremlin-linked St. Petersburg businessman Evgeny Prigozhin — filed a lawsuit against Navalny, FBK lawyer Lyubov Sobol, and the FBK. A court ordered them to pay 88 million rubles ($1.67 million) in compensation to Moskovsky Shkolnik, for disseminating information that the company deemed false.