Our press secretary was fined over participation in an “undesirable organization”...

🛟 Our press secretary was fined over participation in an “undesirable organization”

Dmitry Anisimov was fined 10,000 rubles. The charge was participation in the activities of an “undesirable organization.”

The grounds for the case were Dmitry’s participation in a discussion of political repression in Russia on the YouTube channel “Transit.” That channel is linked to the Free Russia Foundation project, which was declared an “undesirable organization” in 2019.

Anisimov says the prosecution is unlawful and plans to appeal the court’s decision:

“I consider my administrative prosecution unlawful. Not because it contradicts the letter of the law. On the contrary, it is precisely the freedom to interpret ‘participation in the activities of an undesirable organization’ written into the law that gives security forces the ability to call anything that and arbitrarily persecute Russians.

My prosecution is unlawful because this decision itself has nothing to do with the rule of law. I plan to appeal it. Of course, I have no illusions about that, but for me it is important to defend freedom of speech by every available means. That is exactly why I left Russia: so that despite the repression I could continue speaking about what matters, so that people inside Russia, who are often deprived of that opportunity, could hear another point of view and know that they are not alone.

So I reserve the right to say what I think is important, in the way I think is necessary, and to those who need to hear it. And I dedicate my first political fine to my wife!”

🛟 Subscribe to OVD-Info to know how repression works in modern Russia.

Dmitry Anisimov / Photo: social media