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RFE/RL To Appeal 'Foreign-Agent' Fine In Russian Supreme Court


RFE/RL's Prague headquarters

RFE/RL says it will appeal to the Supreme Court of Russia to throw out a 100,000 ruble ($1,440) fine imposed in July under the country’s controversial "foreign-agent" law.

PRAGUE -- RFE/RL says it will appeal to the Supreme Court of Russia to throw out a 100,000 ruble ($1,440) fine imposed in July under the country’s controversial "foreign-agent" law.

The decision comes after a December 13 ruling by the Moscow City Court to reject RFE/RL's appeal following an August 21 district court decision to keep the fine in place.

The fine was imposed over what the courts ruled was RFE/RL’s failure to comply with obligations to report on its operations in Russia following the designation of it and several of its divisions as “foreign agents” by the Justice Ministry in December 2017.

The designation was based on a law signed by President Vladimir Putin in November 2017 allowing the government to apply the label to media outlets that receive funding from abroad, subjecting them to the same requirements as nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funding and are deemed to engage in political activity face under the initial 2012 “foreign-agent” law.

RFE/RL has paid the fine but contends that it was unable to fulfill the reporting requirement by the April 15 deadline because the Justice Ministry, despite repeated requests, failed to provide forms and set out the details of the reporting procedure in a timely manner.

Official reporting instructions for non-Russian legal entities like RFE/RL were published only on April 16.

The expansion of the already much-criticized “foreign-agent” legislation to include media outlets drew sharp criticism from Western governments and rights activists who say the Kremlin uses it to suppress information.

"The ruling by the Moscow City Court is the latest effort by Russian authorities to hamstring our company and particularly the work of our journalists in Russia," said RFE/RL acting President Daisy Sindelar.

"Our job is to provide balanced, objective reporting about events in Russia and worldwide," Sindelar added. "Any suggestion that our journalists are agents of any government is false."

Russian officials have said that expansion of the “foreign-agent” law to media outlets was a “symmetrical response" after Kremlin-supported satellite TV network RT was required to register its U.S. operating unit under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. RT has been accused by U.S. intelligence authorities of spreading propaganda.

U.S. officials argue that the U.S. and Russian laws differ substantially and that Russia uses its foreign-agent legislation to silence dissent and discourage a free exchange of ideas.

RFE/RL is a private, nonprofit organization funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress and overseen by the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which supervises civilian government broadcasting and media operations.

U.S law guarantees the editorial independence of RFE/RL by establishing an information firewall between the organization and the U.S. government.

Along with RFE/RL, which includes its flagship Russian-language service Radio Svoboda, Russian authorities slapped the “foreign-agent” label on Voice of America (VOA), which is also overseen by the USAGM, as well as Current Time TV -- a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA – and several other branches of RFE/RL whose primary audiences are in Russia or speak Russian.

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  • The Washington Post | Josh Rogin, "Biden should tell Putin to stop harassing U.S. news organizations in Russia" (June 15, 2021)
  • The Atlantic, "The Cost of Trump After Trump" (June 15, 2021)
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  • The Washington Post | Editorial: "Biden’s test in Europe: Drawing red lines with Putin and Erdogan" (June 12, 2021)
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  • Newsweek | Ilan Berman, "Four Priorities For The Biden-Putin Summit" (June 10, 2021)
  • European Parliament | Resolution, "The listing of German NGOs as 'undesirable organisations' by Russia and the detention of Andrei Pivovarov" (June 10, 2021)
  • U.S. Mission to the OSCE, "On Shrinking Space for Civil Society in Russia" (June 10, 2021)
  • Novaya Gazeta, "«Эвакуация» «Свободы». 30 лет спустя" (June 8, 2021)
  • Voice of America, "Russia Using Foreign Agent Law to Attack Journalism, Media Say" (June 10, 2021)
  • Senate Foreign Relations Committee | Hearing: “U.S. Policy on Belarus” (June 8, 2021)
  • The Dispatch, "How Moscow Is Threatening Radio Free Europe and the Remnants of the Independent Press" (Jun 1, 2021)
  • Columbia Journalism Review | Joel Simon, "Repression and Reciprocity in Russia" (May 25, 2021)
  • The Washington Post editorial, "Russia’s attack on U.S. media has become a test case" (May 21, 2021)
  • The New York Times, Kremlin Escalates Fight With U.S.-Funded Journalists, Officials Say (May 20, 2021)
  • Axios World, "Radio Free Europe fights to continue operations in Russia" (May 20, 2021)
  • NPR, "Russia Cracks Down On U.S. Broadcaster RFE/RL" (May 15, 2021)
  • AP, "Russian bailiffs show up at US broadcaster’s office" (May 14, 2021)
  • Reuters, "Russia freezes Moscow bank accounts of U.S. broadcaster RFE/RL" (May 14, 2021)
  • Deutsche Welle, "Russia freezes bank accounts of US broadcaster RFE/RL" (May 15, 2021)
  • Moscow Times, "Moscow Bailiffs Visit RFE/RL Newsroom Over ‘Foreign Agent’ Fines" (May 14, 2021)
  • International Press Institute, "Media face financial ruin under Russian 'foreign agent' law" (May 10, 2021)
  • The Washington Post editorial, "The ominous lessons Putin is learning from Xi Jinping" (May 7, 2021)
  • The Guardian, "Kremlin bears down on Moscow bureau of US-funded radio station" (May 5, 2021)
  • The Washington Examiner, opinion by Ted Lipien on Russia's campaign against RFE/RL (May 3, 2021)
  • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentions RFE/RL in World Press Freedom Day statement (May 2, 2021)
  • U.S. State Department spokesman on RFE/RL in Russia (Apr 29, 2021)
  • U.S. Mission to OSCE on RFE/RL in Russia (Apr 29, 2021)
  • The Washington Post editorial, on RFE/RL, Meduza and the "foreign agent" law (Apr 26, 2021)
  • The Power Vertical podcast - RFE/RL's Jamie Fly and Kiryl Sukhotski on "“Truth, Lies, And Foreign Agents: The Kremlin’s War On RFE/RL"
  • The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum on Putin's rationale for forcing RFE/RL out of Russia (Apr 22, 2021)
  • AP on RFE/RL's petition for "interim measures" at the ECtHR (Apr 16, 2021)
  • Reuters on RFE/RL's petition for "interim measures" at the ECtHR (Apr 16, 2021)
  • AFP on RFE/RL's petition for "interim measures" at the ECtHR (Apr 16, 2021)
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  • Foreign Podicy podcast (FDD) - RFE/RL's Jamie Fly and Andrey Shary on "Putin vs. The Press" (Apr 10, 2021)
  • Reuters on Russia's pressure on RFE/RL (Apr 7, 2021)
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  • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, following meeting with USAGM Acting CEO Kelu Chao, on RFE/RL in Russia (Apr 6, 2021)
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  • The Washington Post writes about the "foreign agent" law and its impact on Russian NGO's and RFE/RL (Apr 3, 2021)
  • U.S. Mission to OSCE on RFE/RL in Russia (Mar 18, 2021)
  • EU Mission to OSCE on RFE/RL in Russia (Mar 18, 2021)
  • Reporters Without Borders on RFE/RL in Russia (Mar 16, 2021)
  • U.S. Senators on RFE/RL in Russia (Mar 12, 2021)
  • U.S. State Department spokesman on RFE/RL in Russia (Mar 3, 2021)
  • The Washington Post editorializes about RFE/RL in Russia (Feb 12, 2021)
  • The New York Times, "Russia Pushes U.S.-Funded News Outlet Toward Exit" (Jan 21, 2021)
  • U.S. Members of Congress on RFE/RL in Russia (Jan 21, 2021)​
  • Committee to Protect Journalists on RFE/RL and Russia's expanded "foreign agent" law (Jan 14, 2021)
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