European University fined for storing books published with the support of undesirable organizations
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The Dzerzhinsky District Court of St. Petersburg fined the European University (EU) 70 thousand rubles. for storing in the university library books published with the financial support of the Soros Foundation, which was recognized as an undesirable organization in Russia. The court considered that in this way the EU participated in the activities of an undesirable organization (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).
The reason for compiling two protocols were eight books received at the university from 2000 to 2009, before the passage of the federal law on undesirable organizations. They were published with the support of the Open Society Foundations, also known as the Soros Foundation, created by American billionaire George Soros and the Kennan Institute (a subsidiary of the Woodrow Wilson International Center). Both organizations were recognized by the Prosecutor General’s Office as undesirable in Russia in 2015 and 2022, respectively.
The university claims that the books were in a special closed fund and were not handed out. In addition, the defense stated that the books were published with the support of the Ministry of Education and are stored in the collections of the Russian National Library. The EU told Kommersant that they intend to challenge the court’s decision.
For participation in the activities of an organization that is recognized as undesirable in Russia, or for reposting its materials, fines are imposed: for legal entities – from 50 thousand to 100 thousand rubles. Repeated violation of this norm of the Code of Administrative Offenses threatens with criminal prosecution under Art. 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
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