Letters from Russia | The journalist from St. Petersburg is classified as a “foreign agent” – and that is something more threatening, strange and more Russian than “foreign agent”

Mission turned out to be almost impossible: how could I explain what Russia’s “foreign agent law” is? Even the term “innoagent” is vague. The direct translation is “foreign agent”, but it sounds wrong. “Inoagent” is something more menacing, more strange, more Russian.

St. Petersburg journalist Roman Perl, 40, was classified as an “inoagent” last October. He was added by these agents to the official register with number 82.

An “Inoagent”, in short, is anyone who may work for foreign authorities, organizations or even just ordinary citizens.

It is difficult to tell about “Inoagents” also because the “agents” themselves have no idea of ​​the basis and purpose of the law, let alone their own, current rights and obligations.

So here we go through the background of the agent law while Roman Perl talks about his own experiences.

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The “agents” themselves have little idea of ​​the basics of the law, let alone their own rights.

And so he begins:

I was at my dacha preparing a chanterelle meal for our guests. Mother-in-law and father-in-law were visiting us. In the middle of cooking, I received a call from my friend, who told me that I am now an “inoagent”. I cursed out loud. The mother-in-law asked. “Is there something wrong with the mushrooms?” “No,” I replied. “There is something wrong with Russia.”

The Ministry of Justice added my name to the list on October 8, 2021, i.e. the same day that Dmitry Muratov won his Nobel Prize. Within a month of the name being added to the list, a legal entity must register the “inoagent”. So we have jokingly said that it was “Nobel’s invitation”. The formal reason for my being on the list was to get money [Yhdysvalloista rahoitettavalta] From Radio Svoboda, I work for its Current Time channel. The real reason can only be guessed.

“Inoagent Act” the roots go back to 2012. The law was a response to the massive protests that arose Vladimir Putin upon re-election. At the beginning, the law was aimed exclusively at non-commercial private organizations. The list expanded considerably in 2015–2016.

Human rights organization by Human Rights Watch according to a 2016 report, more than a hundred NGOs were on the list, including the country’s leading human rights groups. Only a few of them agreed to classify themselves as “inoagents”, but the vast majority were forced to stop their activities.

Sadly, Russian society in those years did not pay enough attention to the changes. The Kremlin acted very cleverly – it proceeded step by step. A perfect example of “tightening the screws” slowly and almost imperceptibly but with irresistible force and inevitability. We were blind to it, but we have only ourselves to blame for our blindness.

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The Kremlin acted very cleverly – it proceeded step by step.

Most of the non-governmental organizations on the list were almost unknown. They operate in narrow sectors, and some actually received support from the West. The “Law on Foreign Agents” became widely known in Russia in 2017, when the media’s activities were restricted through amendments to the law. In September 2017, the Voice of America radio network was listed as the first “foreign mass media engaged in foreign agent-like activities”. After the end of 2020, even a private person could be labeled as a “foreign agent”.

June At the end of 2022, there were 161 names on the combined list of media and individuals. Tunnettuja yksityishenkilöitä olivat War-taideprojektin edustaja ja Pussy Riot -ryhmän entinen jäsen Pyotr Verzilovhis ex-wife and current partner Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and a journalist Yuri Dud.

Attention is drawn to the opposition leader and the prisoner of conscience To Alexei Navalny name missing from the list. His non-profit organization “Foundation for the fight against corruption” was on the list from 2019 to 2021, but was removed after the authorities banned its activities. Before that, the foundation was listed as an “extremist organization”. Navalny himself carries a similar title as “a person who shows signs of involvement in the activities of extremist organizations and terrorism.”

Only six people have been removed from the list during its existence. This surprising measure was implemented in April-May 2022 in two stage. All six former “ino-agents” joined a non-profit election monitoring organization called “Golos” (in Russian it means both voice and voting). No clear reason has been given for removing the names.

“Inoagents” those who end up on the list are supposed to act in accordance with their new status and add a note about the matter to all their public writings right from the first day of listing. Public writings mean almost everything from magazine articles to messages on private school forums.

The note reads: “This news media material was created and/or distributed by a foreign mass media outlet acting on behalf of a foreign agent and/or a Russian legal entity acting on behalf of a foreign agent.”

Although the note should be implemented in one’s writings immediately, the official information about being listed as an “inoagent” may not reach the listed person very quickly. Roman Perl ended up on the list in October and was notified about it at the beginning of December.

In the beginning getting on the list required receiving money from abroad. It is no longer necessary. It contributes to getting on the list, but you can get there anyway.

There are some ironic incidents associated with money transfers. Journalist from Novosibirsk Pyotr Manjakhin was listed as a “foreign agent” in July 2021 for transferring US dollars – from his own bank account to another of his own.

According to the law, it was also possible to end up as a “foreign agent” just because you had received money sent by a friend or relative from abroad. However, it has not been possible to verify examples of this.

Roma Perl says: “Inoagent” must register as a legal entity and send a report on money received from abroad and political activities to the Ministry of Justice four times a year. Registering as a legal entity was a bit confusing for me, but luckily lawyers from several different Russian NGOs have helped. The report has taken several hours to write. The Russian laws and regulations governing the activities of “Inoagents” are monstrous.

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“Before each of my speeches I had to express the ‘sacred words’.”

So what about the most significant part of the duties of “innoagents” – the famous 24-word notice in connection with public writings?

Roman Perl answers: The law says that we should put this notice at the top of all our writing for the “unrestricted public”. So it seems that it is not necessary in closed messaging between three or four people. However, if these messages can be forwarded, I should add a note to them. So if you can’t trust every person in the conversation, you’d be wiser to use that note.

Using Twitter is now difficult. After the remark, there is only room for one sentence. There are also certain problems with Instagram. However, it also has fun features. I once participated in a brain game called Debates as a judge. Before each of my speeches, I had to express the “sacred words”. The guys laughed. Everyone understands how to work with this system. I didn’t get any negative reactions.

The current one during the war has appeared new register. In Russia, “persons who act as foreign agents” are now listed as well as persons who have been defined as media performing the same task. The difference between the two is really hard to explain, but the new register is good to know in order to understand how absurd life in Russia is nowadays.

The new register was announced in April 2022. So far, it only has the names of eight people. Everyone is a celebrity: former world chess champion Garry Kasparova rap musician idolized by teenagers Morgenshternbusinessman Yevgeny Chichvarkin and a few others. All of them have Ukraine as their foreign source of information.

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The new register is good to know in order to understand how absurd life in Russia is.

Roman Perl with his family is now in Israel. He moved there in early February before the war started. Perl is working on a new series of documentaries to be shown on the Current Time TV channel. Is it possible that he would return to Russia?

There are no clear regulations or laws in Russia anymore. A murderer and a rapist can be released at the same time as someone else can be put in jail for a harmless Facebook post. Of course, I can officially go back, and I don’t think anything bad will happen to me there. However, there is a chance that something will happen. My wife doesn’t want me to play Russian roulette. If I were alone, I would definitely come back, but I am responsible for my family. The laws about “foreign agents” are so unclear that any of us could easily end up in jail.

In July the law was tightened again. The working opportunities of “Inoagents” have been narrowed. For example, they are not allowed to teach in state schools and universities. A “foreign agent” can be classified as a person who is “subject to foreign influences in any form.”

At the same time, a new law is coming into force. According to it, a Russian citizen can be sentenced to eight years in prison “for secret cooperation with a foreign state, foreign or international organization.” It is not yet clear what “foreign influence” and “collusion” mean.

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“The laws are so unclear that any of us could easily end up in jail.”

Helsingin Sanomat The Letters from Russia project and I, as its author, most obviously fulfill the characteristics necessary to be declared “foreign agents”.

Well, the necessary note can already be found at the end of this article.

Not exactly according to the rules, but still. According to the law, the note should be right at the beginning and the font size should be double compared to the rest of the text.

In the Letters from Russia series, journalist Mihail writes to Helsingin Sanomat from St. Petersburg. His name will not be published for security reasons. Work as an independent journalist is now a threat for authors in Russia, which can lead to arrest or imprisonment.