A Moscow court on September 16 began hearing the criminal case against Mediazona editor-in-chief Sergei Smirnov in absentia on charges of evading obligations imposed on people designated as “foreign agents.”
Mediazona reported from the courtroom that the case had been opened in 2024 over four posts in Smirnov’s Telegram channels that did not carry the label required under Russian law. The posts included reposts from Mediazona and the Vyvozhuk project, a voice message about elections in Botswana, and a post about documentary screenings in Vilnius.
Before the criminal case was opened, Smirnov had twice been fined for failing to use the label. Russia’s Justice Ministry designated him a “foreign agent” in 2021, and he was placed on a wanted list in March 2025.
On October 14, the court found Smirnov guilty in absentia under Part 2 of Article 330.1 of the Russian Criminal Code and sentenced him to one year in a general-regime penal colony. He was also banned from administering websites for two years.