A Russian law requiring many activists, media organizations and individuals to register as “foreign agents” is arbitrary and violates human rights, Europe’s highest court of rights found in a ruling released Tuesday.
The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights said: “The law is reprehensible, misleading and has been used in an overly broad and unpredictable manner.”
The judges found that Russia had violated the planters’ rights to freedom of expression and association under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the right to private life under Article 8.
The Russian law’s “purpose was to punish and intimidate, rather than address the need for transparency or legitimate concerns for national security,” the court added.
The lawsuit was filed by 107 plaintiffs, including NGOs and media personnel, who viewed the law as part of a coordinated campaign against rights defenders and government critics.
Prominent among them were the human rights organization Memorial, which documented Soviet crimes, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
The court said individual “journalists, human rights activists, environmental activists, political scientists” and others participated in the case.
Political NGOs receiving foreign funding have been required to disclose their status as “foreign agents” since 2012, under a law that the ECHR found in 2022 to be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. There is.
Media organizations, individual journalists, and others have since followed suit, and a 2022 law established a sweeping, comprehensive definition.
The penalties include large fines, with RFE/RL ordered to pay the equivalent of approximately €16 million.
The so-called foreign agents are also prohibited from holding public office, receiving Russian government support, teaching in state institutions or producing content aimed at minors.
In the most extreme cases, Memorial, Human Rights Campaign, and Voters League Foundation were all dissolved for alleged “serious and repeated” violations of foreign agency labeling requirements.
For individuals and entities, “designation as a ‘foreign agent’ significantly impedes their activities, creates additional accounting, auditing, reporting and presentation requirements, and prevents them from participating in the electoral process and/or the organization of public events.” “limited,” the judge pointed out. .
The court emphasized that opinion polls showed that the majority of Russian citizens “associate the term ‘foreign agent’ with ‘traitor,’ ‘spy,’ and ‘enemy of the people.'”
Regarding respect for private and family life, the plaintiffs’ personal information would be made public and they would be required to submit “frequent and detailed” reports on their finances, which the court found would “pose an undue burden and threat to the plaintiffs.” ”.
Restrictions such as blocking the practice of some professions and communication with young people “cannot be justified as necessary in a democratic society,” the judge added.
The court ordered Russia to pay the plaintiffs an amount ranging from 5,000 euros to 10,000 euros for non-economic damages and “various other amounts” for specific economic damages.
The ECHR is part of the continent’s highest rights body, the 46-member Council of Europe, and is separate from the European Union.
Although Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe in March 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine, court decisions remain binding in cases dealing with events before then.
The Russian parliament passed an amendment that prevents the Russian government from applying ECHR decisions issued since the ECHR exemption.
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This article was generated from the Automata news agency feed without any modifications to the text.
