AJ
Maria Ermolaeva, a judge of the Yoshkar-Ola City Court in Mari El, on February 18th found the author of the Telegram channel ‘Nothing Will Happen in Mari El’, journalist Alexei Seregin, guilty of participation in the activities of an undesirable organisation, and fined him 5,000 rubles, reported Seregin on his Telegram channel.
Seregin was charged with participation in the activities of an undesirable organisation for sharing content from the undesirable organisation ‘Project.Media’ on his Telegram channel – a retelling of the investigation by the publication Project dedicated to the relatives of senior Russian government officials in power.
The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia recognised ‘Project’ as an undesirable organisation in July 2021, because the publication poses a threat to the foundations of the constitutional order and the security of the Russian Federation, according to the department.
Seregin emphasised that there was no hyperlink to the material in his post on the Telegram channel: “There is no element of an administrative offence in my actions, as I do not participate and have not participated in the activities of an undesirable organisation and have no relation to an undesirable organisation.
In the explanation to the justice department, Seregin continued: “I did not repost anything, did not assist in activities – I just expressed my opinion based on the material I read, which cannot be an element of an administrative offence under Article 20.33 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation.
“No one was harmed by my opinion, and the rights of third parties were not violated – there are no calls for violence or any other unlawful actions in the opinion expressed.”
On February 12, the Yoshkar-Ola City Court terminated another administrative case against Alexei Seregin under the same article, which was initiated by the Yoshkar-Ola Prosecutor’s Office in November 2025.
