In Russia, an administrative case has been opened for reposting materials from Meduza, its defendant is a journalist, former editor-in-chief of Ekho Peterburga Valery Nechai. This is reported by the "First Department".
Updated: "First Department" reports that this is the first case under this article. However, as Kavkaz.Realii reported earlier in May, the Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar had already fined ten thousand rubles under the article on participation in the activities of “undesirable organizations” (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses) of a local activist and author of the Telegram channel “Titushki in Krasnodar » Vitaly Votanovsky. The court considered the references in Votanovsky's channel to the publications of Meduza and the Free Idel-Ural public platform as participation in the activities of these organizations.
Nechay was summoned to the prosecutor's office to hand over a copy of the decision to initiate an administrative case under Art. 20.33. Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation (“participation in the activities of a foreign or international non-governmental organization, in respect of which a decision has been made to recognize its activities as undesirable”).
From the letter, which is at the disposal of the lawyers of the "First Department", it follows that the prosecutor's office of the Admiralteisky district of St. Petersburg from the city prosecutor's office received verification materials on the fact of distribution of materials of the Limited Liability Company (SIA) "Medusa Project" in the network. The publication also published a comment by Nechay himself:
On January 26, 2023, the Prosecutor General's Office recognized the activities of the Medusa Project company (Medusa publication) in Russia as "undesirable". Previously, the publication was recognized as a "foreign agent". According to the oversight agency, the activities of Meduza "pose a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and security of the Russian Federation." In a conversation with The Insider, one of the founders of Meduza, Galina Timchenko, said that the publication will continue to work and will not be closed.
Earlier, the Prosecutor General's Office also recognized the activities of other media as undesirable, in particular The Insider, Important Stories and the Project.