The Team 29 is an informal association of lawyers and journalists aimed to counteract growing governmental closeness in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The Team has worked since February 2015. Its leader is

Ivan Pavlov Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (, ; 27 February 1936) was a Russian and Soviet experimental neurologist and physiologist known for his discovery of classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs. Pavlov also conducted significant research on ...

, legal attorney. Most of the Team 29 members are ex-employees of the Freedom of Information Foundation, a NGO that worked in the field of FOI promotion and defense in Russia since 2004 and was in 2014 included in the list of "foreign agent" NGOs. Working now without a legal entity in Russia, the Foundation team has managed to continue their work despite governmental pressure over independent civic initiatives.

Legal Activities

* Termination of criminal persecution of Svetlana Davydova, a mother of many children, charged of high treason for a phone call to the Ukrainian embassy. * Contesting President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

's Decree classifying information on military personnel losses in the time of peace. * Victory in a judicial dispute between an ex-employee of the "pro-Kremlin online troll fabric" against her former employer. The court trial has catalyzed public attention to the problem of paid online

propaganda in Russia The propaganda of the Russian Federation promotes views, perceptions or agendas of the government. The media include state-run outlets and online technologies, and may involve using "Soviet-style 'active measures' as an element of modern Russia ...

. * Victory in the Constitutional Court of Russia: the Team 29 lawyers have achieved that child adoption secrecy is considered not absolute.

Public Outreach

The Team 29 issued several media projects presenting legal guides for activists and the wide public. Within counteracting governmental closeness growth, the Team has launched "Closeness Chronicle

a chronology of governmental closeness growth facts happened in Russia during Vladimir Putin's last Presidency.

Termination of the activities

On 16 July 2021, the website of the Team 29 was blocked by

Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media The Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media, abbreviated as ''Roskomnadzor'' (RKN), is the Russian federal executive agency responsible for monitoring, controlling and censoring Russian mass media. ...

at the request of

Prosecutor General of Russia The Prosecutor General of Russia (also Attorney General of Russia, ) heads the system of official prosecution in courts and heads the Office of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. The Prosecutor General remains one of the most po ...

. According to official letter,

identifies the Team 29 to

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

"Společnost Svobody Informace" which was designated undesirable on 29 June 2021. The Team 29 doesn't agree with that but it has to make decision to dissolve itself because of risks involved with criminal prosecution under the article 284.1 of the

Criminal Code of Russia The Russian Criminal Code () is the prime source of the Law of the Russian Federation concerning criminal offences. The 1996 Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (UGKRF) came into force on 1 January 1997. The new Criminal Code replaced the So ...

against its members. The Team 29 will delete its digital archive including judicial documents. The Team 29 recommends to delete direct links to its documents because such links can be regarded as a participation in the activity of undesirable organization and be grounds for criminal prosecution. Former members of the Team 29 will continue to work in their personal capacity.

References

{{Reflist Human rights organizations based in Russia Organizations established in 2015