Foundation for the Development of Book Culture 'Irkutsk Union of Bibliophiles'

The Foundation is engaged in the popularization of book culture and the study of the history of book business in Irkutsk. The founder of the Fund is Aleksey Petrov, a historian and blogger who at the end of September was included in the register of 'foreign agents' as the coordinator of the Movement for the Protection of Voter’s Rights 'Golos' in the Irkutsk Region.

Grigory Melkonyants, co-chairman of 'Golos', said that the Irkutsk Union of Bibliophiles was included in the register of 'foreign agents' by mistake. According to him, the Ministry of Justice decided that this legal entity was created by Petrov for reporting in pursuance of the law on media—'foreign agents', although in reality this is not the case.

Name

Field of activity

Socio-educational initatives and projects

Status

“Foreign agent” (media)

Reason for recognition

Individuals recognized as "foreign agents" are required to create a legal entity through which they will report their expenses to the Ministry of Justice. They are obliged to notify the Ministry of Justice about the creation of such an organization and indicate in the constituent documents which other organizations they found. The Ministry of Justice mistakenly considered that Aleksey Petrov created this legal entity for reporting to the Ministry of Justice, while this is not the case.

Year of recognition

2021

Status description

Since 2017, the register of “foreign agents” (media) includes those legal entities who, according to the Russian government: a) receive money or property from foreign sources, b) distribute printed, audio, audiovisual and other messages and materials intended for an unlimited range of persons. Distribution includes not only the publication of the original post but also the repost. Who recognizes: Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Responsibilities: Media foreign agents must indicate in all their materials their status as a “foreign agent” using special marking, conduct a mandatory audit and submit its results to the Ministry of Justice along with data on the organization’s personnel and a report on its activities. Every six months, media outlets included in this register are obliged to publicly post this report on the Internet or provide it to Russian media for publication. If the media does not have a Russian legal entity, then it must register it in Russia, after which this legal entity receives the status of an NPO-foreign agent. Administrative liability: Spreading in the media and on the Internet information about a media-foreign agent or publication of materials produced by him without indicating his status—a fine of up to 50 thousand rubles (part 2.4 of article 13.15 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Violation of the procedure for the activities of a media foreign agent after entering it in the register of foreign agents—a fine of up to 500 thousand rubles (article 19.34.1. of the Code of Administrative Offences). An increase in the amount of the fine for a repeated violation is envisaged. A gross violation is punishable by a fine of up to five million rubles. Criminal liability: If the foreign media agent does not fulfill the obligations required by the law and has previously been held administratively liable because of this, a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to two years (part 2 of article 330.1 of the Criminal Code).

Historians