Vladimir Putin signed the law «On control over the activities of persons under foreign influence», which simplifies the criteria for obtaining the status of «foreign agent». The corresponding document is published on the portal of legal information.
Innovations suggest that the Ministry of Justice will create a unified register of «foreign agents» and a «Unified register of individuals affiliated with foreign agents.» Now the department has four similar lists — NGOs, media, individuals and unregistered associations — their participants are subject to different requirements.
To be recognized as a “foreign agent”, it will no longer be necessary to prove that an individual received foreign funding, a sufficient basis for this will be that he “received support or be under foreign influence” and is engaged in “political activity”. The second list will include those who were engaged in «political activities» and received money from people and organizations already included in the register of the Ministry of Justice or took part in their activities.
According to the law, “foreign agents” are now prohibited from working in the civil service, gaining access to state secrets, nominate themselves as members of the POC, and conduct “educational and educational activities” for children in state and municipal educational institutions. Also, NGOs, legal entities and individuals with this status cannot produce information products for children, receive state money, become members of election commissions and organize public events.
In mid-June, the ECtHR recognized the law on “foreign agents” as violating human rights and awarded ten thousand euros in compensation to each of the 73 NGOs that applied to the ECtHR nine years ago. However, Russia decided not to pay them, as the State Duma adopted amendments on non-execution of the decisions of the ECtHR, which entered into force after Russia's expulsion from the Council of Europe on March 16. .jpg» class=»mz-publish-context-cite__image» alt=»1″ />One country, one law, one registry. The State Duma intends to change the law on «foreign agents» — it will become even easier to get such a label