Russian authorities have begun using a mechanism that allows bank accounts and real estate to be frozen without a court verdict and even without a criminal case being opened. According to Agentstvo, citing gallerist Marat Gelman and political scientist Ekaterina Shulman, there are about 100 known cases involving participants in the SlovoNovo festival and the Dar literary prize.
Ekaterina Shulman spoke about the issue on July 14 during the Status program. She said that cultural figures in Russia have begun having bank accounts and property blocked without notice. She suggested the basis may be a so-called “secret list of terrorists and extremists.”
Shulman said the decisions are made by the Interdepartmental Commission for Countering the Financing of Terrorism. According to her, most of those affected are linked to the SlovoNovo Russian culture festival and the international Dar literary prize.
“[The others] no longer have anything in Russia, and some of them have long been labeled foreign agents and extremists,” Marat Gelman said, adding that the freezes became a serious problem for only about 15 to 20 people who still had assets in Russia.
Yevgeny Smirnov, a lawyer with Pervy Otdel, said the commission received the authority to freeze accounts and real estate without a verdict and without a criminal case a year ago. He noted that such decisions are supposed to be published, but the commission has no website of its own, and the information does not appear on Rosfinmonitoring resources either.
Smirnov said lawyers have been encountering such cases for around six months. Formally, these decisions can be challenged in court, but assets are frozen before hearings begin, and the grounds for the restrictions may remain undisclosed.
The Dar prize was established in 2024 by writer Mikhail Shishkin and is awarded annually in Switzerland. Last year, Russia’s Justice Ministry added it to the “foreign agents” register. The SlovoNovo festival, founded by Marat Gelman in 2018, is held in Montenegro and has also been designated a “foreign agent” in Russia. Gelman himself has been entered into two registries: “foreign agents” and “terrorists and extremists.”