In Russia, an administrative fine has been initiated against former lawyer Ilya Novikov, who is registered as a foreign agent, for allegedly violating the rules of foreign agent activities.
A court in Moscow registered an administrative protocol against Novikov based on Part 2 of Article 19.34 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offenses. This article imposes criminal liability for failure to submit, incomplete submission, incorrect submission, or late submission of information about the activities of foreign agents to the authorized bodies.
The penalty under this article is set as a fine ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 rubles. According to court files, a hearing date has not yet been set.
Novikov's background and other penalties
Ilya Novikov was added to Russia's list of foreign agents in November 2022. He was later also placed on the list of terrorists and extremists by the Russian Federal Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring).
Novikov has been sentenced in absentia to 8.5 years in prison for spreading 'fake news' about the Russian army. During his time practicing law in Russia, he defended Ukrainian Nadezhda Savchenko, who was accused of involvement in the deaths of Russian journalists, and Higher School of Economics (HSE) student Egor Zhukov, who was charged with participating in illegal protest activities.
Novikov currently lives outside Russia.
Compulsory collection and loss of lawyer status
According to court bailiffs' files, an amount exceeding 730,000 rubles is being forcibly collected from Novikov. This sum consists of administrative fines of 40,000 and 50,000 rubles imposed for violating foreign agent activity rules, credit debts, and unpaid taxes.
The Moscow Bar Association revoked Novikov's lawyer status in June 2023.
