From discredit to liquidation – Newspaper Kommersant No. 170 (7371) of 09/15/2022

The Moscow City Court, at the suit of the prosecutor’s office, liquidated the Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers. Among the arguments in favor of such a decision, the department mentioned the organization’s support for journalist Ivan Safronov, sentenced to 22 years in a case of treason, a fine for “discrediting” the Russian army (the decision has not yet entered into force) and raising money for the media from the “foreign agency” register of the Ministry of Justice. As Kommersant found out, the Ministry of Justice presented its “written position” to the court, supporting the prosecutor’s office.

Lawyer Maxim Krupsky, who represents the Trade Union of Journalists and Media Workers in a dispute with the prosecutor’s office, told Kommersant that the Moscow City Court agreed with the prosecutor’s office, which pointed out a number of violations of the law. At the same time, he clarified, the position of the defense was not taken into account, just as the defendant was not given the opportunity to eliminate the violations.

The trade union has 600 members in 40 regions of the Russian Federation. The NGO is independent, not controlled by the official Union of Journalists of Russia (UJR).

It was created in 2016 after an attack on a bus with journalists and human rights activists on the border of Chechnya and Ingushetia (the crime has not yet been solved) and was registered by the Ministry of Justice in 2017. The trade union is a member of the International and European Federations of Journalists. His activities are focused on “conducting public campaigns in defense of colleagues”, helping “in labor disputes” and organizing legal support for “illegal detentions of journalists at rallies.”

The lawsuit of the prosecutor’s office of the Moscow City Court should have considered August 3, but the meeting was postponed. The oversight agency asked for a pause “to familiarize themselves with the position of the defense”, set out on 20 pages. Lawyers objected to six arguments in favor of liquidation. The first was the posting of two “publications containing signs of discredit” and “false socially significant information about the special operation” of the Russian Federation in Ukraine on the Internet. For this union in August was fined for 500 thousand rubles. and is currently contesting the fine on appeal (the judgment has not yet entered into force). Other arguments concerned “support for journalists Ivan Safronov and Svetlana Prokopyeva” (first convicted in the case of treason by the age of 22, the second – the head of the Pskov regional branch of the trade union – was found guilty of justification of terrorism and left Russia). It was also about raising money for Meduza and OVD-Info, recognized as foreign agents, and for paying fines to union members “for participating in unapproved public events.”

In addition, the prosecutor’s office stated that the charter of the organization does not comply with relevant legislation.

The paragraph on the statutory documents, Kommersant found out, was supported by the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday, presenting a “written position” to the court. The document states that back in 2017, the trade union submitted “inaccurate information” during the registration of state registration. So, at the constituent assembly, it follows from the position of the Ministry of Justice, there were 15 people present, and only three were the founders. In addition, “the charter of the trade union does not contain an indication of the territory” of the activities of NGOs, and the congress of the trade union “listens to the reports of the chairman”, however, this body “is not provided for by the charter”. Despite this, the Ministry of Justice admitted that it had issued the state registration, considering the documents to be “compliant with the requirements of federal law.” By 2018, violations “were identified,” about which the Ministry of Justice notified the prosecutor’s office “in order to take response measures.”

In May 2022, the Moscow prosecutor’s office began an unscheduled inspection of the trade union, and then filed a lawsuit for liquidation. In July, the Moscow City Court suspended the activities of the organization, stating that an administrative case had been opened against the NPO to “discredit” the army.

Despite the fact that the fine is being contested by the trade union and the decision of the court of first instance has not yet entered into force, it was this violation that became the main argument in the proceedings on September 14, lawyer Maxim Krupsky believes.

“The prosecutor’s office did not present any convincing counterarguments to our objections,” Mr. Krupsky told Kommersant. “We will appeal the decision. Liquidation is an extreme measure, but all the circumstances cited by the prosecutor’s office do not indicate a gross violation of the law, and even less the need to close the organization.”

The head of the UJR, Vladimir Solovyov, learned the news about the liquidation of the trade union from a Kommersant correspondent and, as before, called the organization “chasing loud statements” but “not doing real work.” “This is a small structure, we have no contacts with them,” Mr. Solovyov said. “They tried to protect mainly opposition bloggers, to make loud statements on behalf of the journalistic community. I cannot remember that they (trade union.— “b”) actually protected someone.”

Maria Starikova