Deputies-foreign agents Viktor Vorobyov and Daria Besedina may be deprived of mandates due to lack of marking

In Russia, there may soon be no more deputies in the status of foreign agents. So far, there are two of them – a communist Viktor Vorobyov (recognized as a foreign agent) from the State Council (parliament) of Komi and “Yabloko” Daria Besedina (recognized as a foreign agent) from the Moscow City Duma. As it became known to Kommersant, the Ministry of Justice is trying to bring both to administrative responsibility for the lack of “foreign agency” marking in deputy requests, and on several episodes at once. If successful, this will be the reason for initiating a criminal case and the subsequent termination of their powers.

As it became known to Kommersant, the Syktyvkar City Court immediately received four cases on bringing to administrative responsibility the leader of the Communist Party faction in the Komi State Council, Viktor Vorobyov. The communist is charged with the production of materials without “foreign agency” marking, that is, without indicating that they were produced by a foreign agent (part 4 of article 19.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the maximum fine is 50 thousand rubles). Two protocols will be considered on June 5, two more on the 21st.

Viktor Vorobyov himself explained to Kommersant that we are talking about the absence of marking in deputy requests that he sent to law enforcement agencies – the prosecutor’s office of the republic and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The deputy does not agree with the position of the Ministry of Justice, since he believes that such documents do not fall under the “foreign agency” legislation.

“Under the “material” is understood something media: a post in social networks, an article in a newspaper, a video blog, and so on – these norms migrated from the law “On Mass Media”, which previously regulated the activities of foreign agents,” he told Kommersant. to a deputy’s request is one of the guarantees of deputy activity, which is enshrined in the law of the republic “On the status of a deputy”, and the request itself is its form and therefore cannot be recognized as media material in any way.”

If we accept the logic of the Ministry of Justice, then it is necessary to mark the draft laws of deputies-foreign agents, and even the laws adopted on the basis of these drafts, Mr. Vorobyov ironically: “Such a position would undermine the foundations of Russia’s sovereignty.”

Recall, Viktor Vorobyov was recognized as a foreign agent on April 1, 2022. He became the first deputy to receive such a status. The reason was payments from several NPO-foreign agents, as well as funds for the return of a railway ticket from a British company. Mr. Vorobyov tried to challenge the decision to include foreign agents in the register in court, but to no avail (the case is currently under cassation). Since the fall of last year, the communist has reduced his public activity and stopped running social networks so as not to label them with a “foreign agency” badge.

Viktor Vorobyov is not the only regional deputy who came to the attention of the Ministry of Justice due to the lack of marking. Similar claims from the department appeared against a member of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma, Daria Besedina, who was recognized foreign agent on January 20, 2023 for distributing materials of other foreign agents, as well as speaking out against the special military operation in Ukraine and promoting LGBT relations.

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow received at least three cases against Mrs. Besedina under Part 4 of Art. 19.34 Administrative Code of the Russian Federation. All of them, according to Kommersant, are also associated with deputy requests.

The deputy herself did not comment on the situation in detail to Kommersant: “I was not acquainted with the claims, it will become more clear when I see what, in fact, they want to fine me for.” On Wednesday, the court ruled to return the protocols against Ms. Besedina to the Ministry of Justice.

We add that the fine may not be the only problem for Viktor Vorobyov and Daria Besedina. Since December last year, a repeated violation of the procedure for the activities of foreign agents, including in terms of the lack of marking, entails criminal liability under Part 2 of Art. 330.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (up to two years in prison). And the verdict that has entered into legal force, in turn, is the basis for the early termination of deputy powers. Kommersant’s interlocutors in the Komi State Council, for example, consider this scenario quite realistic: “In case of repeated violation and prosecution, there is a risk of initiating a criminal case. In this case, we will be forced to initiate the issue of depriving Vorobyov of his mandate, ”one of the deputies, who wished to remain anonymous, told Kommersant.

Andrey Ashes; Andrey Ivanov, Syktyvkar