Five years in prison for changing your avatar. Where does the law on foreign agents lead to

Nearly 200,000 people and over 230 organizations have already signed a petition against foreign agent laws on Change.org

The well-known political scientist Yekaterina Shulman, who is one of the initiators of this action, hopes that the new composition of the State Duma will nevertheless consider this law again and, if it does not cancel (which, of course, there is no hope), then at least make important changes to it. without which he is essentially unreasonably cruel. Moreover, Putin recently announced that the "law on foreign agents" needs to be improved in connection with abuses in law enforcement practice in relation to charitable organizations..."

In the meantime, the so-called "foreign agents" are required to report on all their income and expenses, on ongoing projects and label their sites, social networks, posts and comments. Because of this, non-profit organizations lose donors and volunteers, the media - advertisers, and individuals - jobs and a sense of security, - said Shulman. For violation of reporting rules, which cannot be observed - they are complex, mutually contradictory and constantly changing - there follows first an administrative, and then criminal punishment. So the status of a “foreign agent” is not a “label and work on”, but repression, making the activities of an organization, journalist or civil activist impossible and inevitably leading to fines, administrative arrests and potential criminal cases.

It is known that the laws on “foreign agents” allow the Ministry of Justice to recognize non-profit organizations, media and individuals as “foreign agents” if they receive funding from abroad. It can even be considered a transfer from a grandmother from Ukraine (or 200 rubles from an unknown citizen of Armenia - a real case: this is how the organization of observers "Golos" was recognized as a foreign agent).

Recently, journalist Pyotr Manyakhin was declared a foreign agent for transferring dollars from one of his accounts to another. The Ministry of Justice is not obliged to prove that there is some connection between the money received and the activities of an organization or a person: no matter what you do, if any amount is transferred to you from abroad, you are a foreign agent.

Moreover, journalist Lyudmila Savitskaya (recognized as a foreign agent on the territory of the Russian Federation) reported that her comrades in misfortune are threatened with administrative and criminal even for foreign agent avatars on social networks. So the journalist Sergei Markelov and the activist Lev Ponomarev (both recognized as foreign agents on the territory of the Russian Federation) "flew in" from Roskomnadzor. The first one for the fact that he did not sign when changing the avatar, that it was created and distributed to inagents, and the second made reposts without the same marking. They were not saved from punishment even by a huge banner on the cover of the Facebook page, by this warning. Now they are all charged with “violation of the procedure for the activity of a foreign agent” under Article 19.34.1 of the Administrative Code. But if a person is twice accused of such a “violation”, then for the third time he will face a criminal case for “malicious evasion of the duties of a foreign agent” with a prison term of two to five years - article 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Savitskaya is indignant: “Five years for an avatar or a post without "THIS MESSAGE", how do you like it? Another chance to sit down - an error in the report to the Ministry of Justice on 86 pages, the very one where we, the agents, report to the state what kind of kefir, loaf and underwear we buy. We also explain where the money comes from - we attach bank statements.

Markelov speaks about this madness best of all:

"It's not normal that in the 21st century, when a cure for cancer is invented, when people fly into space to shoot a film, a person can be forced to call himself a foreign agent, write some kind of disclaimer, send reports on what pads, drugs, condoms he bought. This is simply absurd and dystopia that comes to life before our eyes. This is absolutely unconstitutional and antihuman! This contradicts all normal ideas about the norms of human law and everything else. At anybody nothing clicks, all are such: "Well, all right, OK, we will live this way now". But this should not be so!..."