The Ministry of Justice counted the agents – Kommersant
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Last year in Russia, they were recognized as foreign agents 1.75 times more often than a year earlier, they were fined 2.7 times more often, and the amount of fines imposed on them increased 60 times at once. Such information is contained in the report of the Ministry of Justice submitted to the State Duma on control over the activities of persons under foreign influence. The growth in the number of foreign agents is unlikely to benefit the state and rather indicates the absence of preventive measures, the expert believes. However, the deputies are already thinking about toughening administrative and criminal liability for violating foreign agents.
In 2022, 188 people were included in the register of foreign agents against 108 in 2021, follows from the report that the Ministry of Justice submitted to the State Duma (“Kommersant” got acquainted with it). The main increase was provided by individuals and legal entities recognized by the media as foreign agents: in this category, the list was replenished with 167 persons involved compared to 94 newcomers the year before last. The Ministry of Justice explains such statistics by an increase in the number of messages and materials in the media aimed at discrediting Russian domestic and foreign policy in connection with the events in Ukraine. As noted in the report, the materials distributed by foreign agents “contained unconstructive criticism of representatives of authorities at various levels, adopted and developed decisions and laws, were aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the ongoing special military operation on the territory of Ukraine, as well as at promoting LGBT relations and undermining traditional Russian spiritual and moral values”.
The authors of the report remind that, under the new rules, support from a foreign source can be expressed not only in the form of direct funding, but also in the form of “impact” – for example, it can be organizational and methodological assistance or providing a platform for promoting one’s views. The political activity of the persons included in the register, the Ministry of Justice clarifies, was carried out through calls for organizing and participating in mass events “designed to influence public authorities”, spreading negative opinions about the activities of representatives of state bodies or discrediting the electoral process.
Also included in the register of foreign agents are 11 NGOs (one more than in 2021) and eight unregistered public associations (two more than in 2021). Four NGOs opposed the special operation and supported the regime in Ukraine, according to the report. Seven organizations publicly appealed to state bodies and their officials with the aim of influencing them, including influencing the change or repeal of laws and regulations, as well as calling on citizens to participate in protest actions. For example, the TROOO “Women’s Voice”, included in the register, called for participation in protest actions in support of Alexei Navalny, for voting against the United Russia party in the elections, and against the draft law “On the Prevention of Domestic Violence in the Russian Federation”. And the Social Partnership Foundation, recognized as a foreign agent, disseminated messages and materials that discredited the bodies of the penitentiary system, their leadership and employees.
At the same time, the financing of NPOs-foreign agents decreased markedly last year. In 2022, about 687.1 million rubles were transferred to the accounts of NCOs acting as foreign agents, according to the Ministry of Justice, which is 34% less than in 2021 (at that time NCOs-foreign agents received 1 billion rubles). The department explains this dynamics by the liquidation of a number of organizations previously included in the register of foreign agents.
In total, according to the Ministry of Justice, as of the end of last year, the register of foreign agents contained information about 515 organizations and individuals, of which 347 were active. In addition, the department has data on 861 individuals affiliated with foreign agents (this criterion is used mainly in the electoral legislation to mark “candidates affiliated with foreign agents”).
Foreign agents can be excluded from the register, but this happens infrequently. In 2022, the Ministry of Justice considered a total of 25 deregistration applications from 13 individuals and one legal entity, in 11 cases such applications were resubmitted during the year. Positive decisions were made in respect of nine individuals and one legal entity, four applicants were refused “in connection with the submission of false information about the termination of their activities as a foreign agent.” Also, three NGOs were excluded from the register at their own request and another 18 due to their liquidation. Three NCOs were denied deletion from the register due to the provision of false information.
Foreign agents were not prosecuted last year, but they were fined much more often than before. In 2022, Roskomnadzor made 156 punctures against foreign agents (in 2021 – only 58), and the courts imposed fines for 228.6 million rubles. (against 3.8 million a year earlier). But the Ministry of Justice, due to the moratorium on scheduled inspections in relation to NGOs, was unable to improve its own indicators and drew up only two protocols in relation to NCOs that had committed a fine, while in 2021 there were 24 of them. inclusion of persons in the register of foreign agents: during the past year, 118 such decisions were appealed against 43 in 2021. True, not a single claim was satisfied, the report emphasizes.
In general, the Ministry of Justice notes, the adoption of the law “On Control over the Activities of Persons Under Foreign Influence” made it possible to strengthen control over foreign agents and limit their “destructive influence” on the socio-political situation. But in the face of further strengthening of external pressure, the department considers it expedient to continue the development of legislation on foreign agents. Recall that at the recent St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, Deputy Minister of Justice Oleg Sviridenko supported the legislative initiative already submitted to the State Duma, concerning not foreign agents themselves, but any third parties who are not agents themselves and are not even affiliated with them, but can help foreign agents bypass the rules established for them. prohibitions and restrictions.
So far, we can say that the basic mechanisms have been formed: there is a single register of foreign agents, the mechanism for exclusion from it is working, Anatoly Vyborny, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Security, explained to Kommersant, but the “jewelry tuning” of all mechanisms is still ahead. “We receive feedback, analyze the emerging law enforcement practice in order to understand the feasibility of improving both legislation and law enforcement practice,” the deputy noted. According to him, in the future, we can talk about toughening criminal and administrative liability for violators of the law on foreign agents, as well as eliminating loopholes that allow them today to bypass the established restrictions – for example, by receiving foreign funding not directly, but through intermediaries.
The annual report of the Ministry of Justice to the Parliament on the results of control over foreign agents is directly provided for by law, recalls Pavel Sklyanchuk, a member of the political technologies committee of the RASO. But what to do with the information received and how to evaluate it is not entirely clear, he adds. “The fact that there are more and more foreign agents every year is unlikely to benefit the state and rather indicates the absence of preventive measures and the prevention of offenses, as well as a non-working mechanism for exclusion from the register. Perhaps, we should think about improving the legislation in this direction, but the agenda is more likely to further expand the norms of the law on foreign agents,” the expert sums up.
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