Jailed activist Andrey Pivovarov faces separate misdemeanor charge for violation Russia’s ‘foreign agent’ law
Former Open Russia director Andrey Pivovarov, who has been in pre-trial detention since June 2, now faces a separate misdemeanor charge for failing to add the organization Open St. Petersburg (Otkryty Peterburg) to the Russian Justice Ministry’s “foreign agent” registry.
Pivovarov was detained on May 31, after being removed from a flight leaving for Warsaw from St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport. The activist was transferred to Krasnodar and remanded in custody for two months on June 2.
On June 8, the Russian Investigative Committee formally charged Andrey Pivovarov with involvement in the activities of an “undesirable organization” (under Criminal Code article 284.1). This is punishable by either up to 500,000 rubles ($6,900) in fines, community service, compulsory labor, or up to six years in prison.
The criminal case against Pivovarov was opened over a post he shared on Facebook in August 2020, which contained information about a fundraising campaign in support of the United Democrats project. Investigators maintain that Pivovarov shared the post, “with the intent of participating in the activities of the undesirable organization Open Russia.”
The additional misdemeanor charge was written up on June 2, under Russian Administrative Code article 19.34 (carrying out the activities of an NGO performing the functions of a foreign agent, which isn’t included in the Justice Ministry’s “foreign agent” registry). If found guilty, Pivovarov will face up to 300,000 rubles in fines ($4,135).
The nonprofit Open St. Petersburg was founded in 2017 and conducted outreach activities. The Russian Justice Ministry forcibly added the organization to its list of “foreign-agent NGOs” in December 2020. According to Anastasia Burakova from the human rights group Pravozashchita Otkrytki, Open St. Petersburg is currently in the process of liquidation. That said, the organization’s lawyers are still trying to challenge its “foreign agent” status in court.
The Russia-based nonprofit Open Russia isn’t formally included in the country’s list of “undesirable organizations.” However, its activists started coming under pressure in 2017, after this status was handed down to the Open Russia Civic Movement and OR (Otkrytaya Rossia), which are both linked to exiled former oil executive Mikhail Khodorkovsky. In 2019, Open Russia announced its dissolution, after which it established another entity under the same name, but the Justice Ministry refused to register it. In May 2021, Open Russia announced that it was disbanding completely to protect its supporters from criminal prosecution.
