Ekho Moskvy handed 24 fines over missing ‘foreign agent’ labels
A Moscow court has sentenced the radio station Ekho Moskvy and its chief online editor Vitaly Ruvinsky to a total of 24 fines for failing to properly label mentions of organizations designated as “foreign agents.”
As reported by Dozhd television, Moscow’s Presnensky District Court handed down eight of these fines on June 24, and the other 16 on October 4. So far, there is only detailed information about the first eight penalties: the fines were issued for failing to mention the “foreign agent” status of the Doctors’ Alliance labor union, Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation (the FBK), and the human rights group Memorial.
The exact amount of the fines isn’t specified in publicly available documents. Under Administrative Code Article 13.15, section 2.1, failing to mention an NGO’s “foreign agent” status is punishable by fines ranging from 40,000 to 50,000 rubles (approximately $565 to $705) for legal entities.
On October 14, reports emerged that Russia’s censorship agency (Roskomnadzor) had accused the Dozhd television website of failing to properly label content created by “foreign agents.” Dozhd hasn’t been issued any fines as of yet.
