Morgenstern was fined seven million rubles in absentia

Morgenstern was fined seven million rubles in absentia

A justice of the peace in Moscow sentenced the rapper in absentia to a fine in a criminal case over failure to fulfill the duties of a “foreign agent,” Mediazona reports.

The grounds for the prosecution were Morgenstern’s posts published on Telegram, Instagram, and YouTube between March and June 2024 without “foreign agent” labels.

The state prosecution had sought a fine of eight million 206 thousand rubles for the rapper.

Lawyer Ildar Islamov, who represents the artist’s interests, said during arguments that there was not enough evidence to find Morgenstern guilty, and that the criminal case had been opened over posts that had already been deleted.

Before the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war, Morgenstern repeatedly spoke positively about Vladimir Putin’s policies, but after it began he changed his position on the issue and left Russia. In May 2022, he was designated a “foreign agent.”

In 2024, a case was opened against him and he was put on the wanted list in the Russian Federation. The rapper’s Moscow property has been seized.

@meduzalive