The Prosecutor General’s Office has recognized the activities of the International Transport Workers Federation in Russia as “undesirable”.
Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the watchdog said, “the leaders of this organization, who are citizens of Great Britain and Australia, have been making strong anti-Russian statements, openly condemning its implementation.”
The organization, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, promotes “the introduction by the maximum number of countries, following the example of Great Britain, of a ban on the entry into their seaports of ships” registered in Russia or leased by Russian companies, and the section of dockers included in its structure and controlled trade unions in foreign ports “disrupted the unloading of ships Russian courts in them.”
In addition, the organization allegedly raises money for Ukraine. Probably, we are talking about raising funds to help the families of transport workers in Ukraine who suffered due to the war.
“Using media resources, the organization systematically posts politicized publications in the information space, creating a negative image of Russia abroad. Thus, with its activities, the foreign international non-governmental organization International Transport Workers Federation poses a threat to the constitutional order of the Russian Federation,” the department said in a statement.
The International Transport Workers’ Federation was founded in 1896 in London. The organization unites trade unions of transport workers around the world, including in Russia and Ukraine, and also represents their interests in a number of structures, including the International Labor Organization.
The decision of the Prosecutor General’s Office, as Radio Liberty notes, may jeopardize criminal prosecution of tens of thousands of Russian sailors, since in Russia a member of this international association is the seamen’s trade union. Its website claims that more than 77 thousand people are members of the association.
For participation in the activities of an “undesirable” organization, administrative liability is provided (Article 20.33 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to 15 thousand rubles), and then criminal liability (Part 1 of Article 284.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for up to four years) . Article 284.1 is also charged with financing or organizing the activities of an “undesirable” organization, and the punishment can be up to five and six years in prison, respectively.
