The Zyuzinsky District Court of Moscow registered the materials of the administrative case against journalist Arkady Babchenko. Mediazona drew attention to the update in the court database.
According to the case file, Babchenko is accused of distributing materials without the “foreign agent” marking (Part 4 of Article 19.34 of the Administrative Code). A hearing in his case has not yet been scheduled. What exactly became the reason for bringing to administrative responsibility is unclear.
Babchenko was added to the register of “foreign agents” on April 7. According to the Ministry of Justice, the journalist disseminated “inaccurate information about the decisions made by public authorities and the policies they pursue,” and also collected donations in support of the Ukrainian army.
Back in 2017, he left Russia for Kiev — the journalist was afraid for their safety after the publication about the crash of the Tu-154 of the Russian Ministry of Defense, flying to Syria. In the post, Babchenko wrote that the deceased artists of the Alexandrov ensemble “are not worthy of regret.”
In 2018, the SBU conducted a special operation to stage the death of a journalist. As Ukrainian security officials said, in this way they prevented the assassination attempt on Babchenko, which was organized by the Russian special services. In the summer of 2020, Rosfinmonitoring added Babchenko to the list of terrorists and extremists maintained by Rosfinmonitoring.
In connection with the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Babchenko repeatedly criticized the Russian government and supported the Ukrainian government. In August, a court in Estonia fined a journalist 100 euros for violating public order — in July, Babchenko threw eggs at the Russian Embassy in Tallinn. He explained his actions as a protest against the war in Ukraine.
“Throwing eggs at a russet embassy is equivalent to “throwing garbage away in a place other than the designated place, polluting a pond or fountain.” Well, yes. That's what a swamp is. Not a fountain,” Babchenko commented on the decision of the Estonian court on Facebook. The post with this quote was later deleted.