The Russian Justice Ministry has declared blogger Ilya Varlamov and Pavel Chikov, head of the international human rights group Agora, to be “foreign agents”.
Also included in the register are the Parni Plus / Parni + website on LGBT relations, Svetlana Lada-Rus (Peunova), the leader of the Volya party and the occult center Path to the Sun, Bogdan Bakaleiko, a former Dozhd journalist and political scientist . Rouslan Aisin.
The Justice Ministry claims that Varlamov and Chikov disseminated “inaccurate information about the decisions taken by public authorities and the policies they pursue”. Varlamov, according to the department, also received “support from foreign sources.” Chikov is credited by the Ministry of Justice with some “participation in the creation and distribution of foreign agent material to an unlimited circle of people”.
Ministry of Justice cites ‘propaganda of LGBT relations contrary to state policy’ and distribution of material by ‘foreign agents’ as basis for inclusion of ‘Parni Plus/Parni+’ website in registry “foreign agents”.
Svetlana Lada-Rus, according to the department, called for struggle against the current government, opposed the war in Ukraine and took a negative attitude towards military and public service.
As a basis for adding Ruslan Aisin to the register, the Ministry of Justice indicates “the dissemination by foreign publications of false information about the decisions of state bodies and their policies”, as well as statements against the war in Ukraine .
Bohdan Bakaleyko, according to the agency, “spread messages and materials created by foreign agents”, “spread negative information about the activities of state authorities” and spoke out against the war in Ukraine.
Legislation on “foreign agents” in Russia appeared in 2012. The law authorized the Ministry of Justice to designate nonprofit organizations as “foreign agents” if they received funds from abroad and engaged in political activities. The criteria according to which these activities are determined are not clearly defined in the law, which allows the authorities to prosecute organizations working in the field of education, culture, health, ecology and protection of human rights. Subsequently, it became possible to recognize the media and individuals as “foreign agents”.
