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Putin signs new amendments to Russia’s controversial ‘foreign agent’ law
As 2020 closed, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a package of controversial new laws expanding the government’s powers to label individuals and organizations as “foreign agents,” introducing an array of new restrictions on media organizations.
Putin signs new amendments to Russia’s controversial ‘foreign agent’ law Published on The Kremlin. Credit: uuseesti.ee
As 2020 closed, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a package of controversial new laws expanding the government’s powers to label individuals and organizations as “foreign agents,” introducing an array of new restrictions on media organizations.
Civil Society Space Shrinking Further in Russia
January 18, 2021
Russian human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva, dressed as Snegurochka, Russian Snow Maiden, left, environmental activist Yevgenia Chirikova, center, and prominent rights activist Lev Ponomaryov speak. (File)
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The United States has voiced concern over the Russian government’s expanding repression of civil society.
On December 28, the Russian Ministry of Justice added five individuals, including prominent human rights activist Lev Ponomaryov, to a list of so-called “foreign agents.” The four others were journalist Lyudmila Savitskaya; newspaper editor Denis Kamalyagin; website journalist Sergei Markelov; and artist and rights activist Daria Apakhonchich. Savitskaya, Markelov, and Kamalyagin have been contributors to the Russian service of RFE/RL, whose parent agency is the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
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At the end of last year, Russia adopted a number of
new legal measures that many observers say are intended to further restrict the country s already state-dominated media sphere. Among other things, the government has begun placing individuals on its
list of foreign-agent media, subjecting them to potential fines or prison sentences. The government has also criminalized online defamation.
Russia s state media monitor, Roskomnadzor, this week drew up its first eight
administrative protocols all of them targeting Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty for allegedly violating the foreign agents law.
The protocols target four of RFE/RL s Russian-language projects its main service for Russia, Radio Svoboda; the Current Time television and digital network; and Siberia.Reality and Idel.Reality, two regional sites delivering local news and information to audiences in Siberia and the Volga-Urals region.
Two international rights watchdogs have expressed concerns over the inclusion of the five Russian citizens on a controversial list of foreign agents seen by the West as a way for Russian authorities to clamp down on dissent.
January 1, 2021 07:59:24 am
The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation added Tuesday prominent women’s rights organization supporting domestic violence victims, Nasiliu.net (“Not to Violence”), to its “foreign agent” list under a controversial law aimed at restricting non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from operating freely. The “foreign agent” status subjects NGOs, the press, and individuals to higher levels of bureaucratic scrutiny, and requires NGOs to report the status in their published materials, along with all funding and expenses from other countries.
Nasiliu.net Director Anna Rivina wrote that Nasiliu.net was “. . .[V]ery angry,” adding that it planned to “do more in 2021,” and that it would do so “more loudly, transparently and boldly.”