Trial on liquidation of Jewish agency Sokhnut postponed for two months

The Basmanny Court of Moscow today, February 20, postponed the proceedings on the liquidation of the Jewish agency Sokhnut until March 30. Judge Olga Lipkina explained the need for a break “by the explanations received from the plaintiff’s representatives” and the importance of “preparing the legal position of the parties.” Let us recall that we are talking about the explanations of the Ministry of Justice – the department is seeking the liquidation of the Jewish agency through the courts for “systematic” violations of the laws “On Information” and “On NGOs.” To provide explanations (clarifications to the claim), what exactly is the “systematic nature” of the alleged violations, was previously demanded by the lawyers representing “Sohnut” in court.

The Moscow Department of the Ministry of Justice demanded the liquidation of the Sokhnut agency (engaged in repatriation) in August 2022, however, the trial could not begin for more than six months – it was constantly postponed at the request of the defense. first meeting as reported “Kommersant”, took place on February 17, 2023. At the same time, it turned out that the Ministry of Justice, during an unscheduled verification of the agency, revealed violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of collecting and storing personal data of Russians, as well as the “transboundary” nature of the transfer of this data (that is, the placement of these visas and passports on foreign websites prohibited by law).

According to the Ministry of Justice, regional branches of Sokhnut were brought to administrative responsibility for these violations 16 times in three years, and officials were fined 735,000 rubles. Sokhnut lawyers insist that the fined people were not employees of the agency at the time of prosecution.

Among the claims of the Ministry of Justice to the agency are also incomplete reporting on the expenditure of financial resources and an incorrectly drawn up charter. Lawyer Andrey Grishaev previously explained to the court that Sokhnut had sent to the department “already the sixth” copy of the edited charter, the agency hopes for its registration by the Ministry of Justice and removal of this violation from the list of claims. At the meeting today, February 20, Mr. Grishaev said that Sokhnut offered the Ministry of Justice a two-month conciliation procedure, but the department’s employees refused it.

Maria Starikova