Soviet and Russian political and public figure. One of the founders of the all-Russian society for perpetuating the memory of victims of political repression «Memorial», an active participant in election campaigns and mass non-violent actions of democrats in 1989-1990, one of the founders of the Moscow Association of Voters and the «Democratic Russia» movement. Deputy of two convocations of the Russian parliament. In the fall of 1991, he headed the parliamentary commission of the Supreme Council to investigate the crime of the State Committee for a State of Emergency (GKChP). He initiated the creation of a multidisciplinary human rights reception «Hot Line». In 1997, he initiated and organized the Common Action initiative group, which brought together the most prominent representatives of the Russian human rights community. In the same year, he founded the human rights movement For Human Rights. In 2002 he was the organizer of the International Conference «For the end of the war and the establishment of peace in the Chechen Republic».

Name
Ponomarev Lev Alexandrovich
Field of activity
Human rights organizations with a wide range of causes
Status
«Foreign agent» (individual media)
Reason for recognition
Lev Ponomarev ran several non-profit organizations, including the "Hot Line" organization, which officially received a grant from the UN Committee on Torture, and "For Human Rights," which was recognized as a "foreign agent" non-profit organization. According to the Ministry of Justice, Ponomarev was recognized as a "foreign agent" on the basis of a letter from Rosfinmonitoring about his receiving money from abroad and reposting foreign media articles on Facebook.
Year of recognition
2020
Status description
Since 2019, this register includes those individuals who, in the opinion of the Russian government: a) publicly disseminate messages and materials created by a media-foreign agent, or participate in the creation of such materials, b) receive foreign funding (money or property). A person may be declared «foreign agent» if he/she reposts materials from a foreign media outlet, writes materials for it, publishes joint materials (for example, journalistic investigations), provides some data, prepares drawings, participates in the creation of a video or even gives comments as an expert, and at the same time has any income from a foreign source. Who recognizes: Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Responsibilities and Limitations: An individual who is recognized as a foreign agent media is obliged to send to the Ministry of Justice a report on the expenditure of funds, including those received from foreign sources, and every six months publicly post a report on his activities on the Internet or provide to Russian media for publication. In addition, individuals included in this register must register a legal entity in Russia that receives the status of an NPO-foreign agent. The report on the activities of this NPO also needs to be submitted to the Ministry of Justice. Administrative liability: Violation of the order of activity after being recognized a foreign agent — a fine of 10 thousand rubles. A gross violation is threatened with a fine of five million rubles. (Article 19.34.1. of the Code of Administrative Offences) Criminal liability: If an individual-media-foreign agent does not fulfill the obligations required by law and has previously been held administratively liable because of this, a fine of up to 300 thousand rubles or imprisonment for up to two years (part 2 of article 330.1 of the Criminal Code).