A German court can treat three people accused of reposting Russia Today Germany videos as breaking European Union sanctions, according to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Three independent bloggers associated with the website Traugott Ickeroth were as “operators” under the EU’s Russia sanctions rules for reusing material from Moscow state TV. Now, the ECJ has sought to ‘clarify’ the law, by viewing the trio as if they were sanctions-busting in the same way a commercial business—or Russian oil customer—would do.
The targeted website is freely accessible and not run by a traditional broadcaster, and the ECJ ruling made no allowances for future prosecuted “operators” who are in receipt of donations.
Suspects R, N, and K stand accused in Germany of posting four RT videos in 2023 through the website’s Live-Ticker blog. Under German law, violating the EU’s broadcasting ban on the Russian channel can carry a prison term of between three months and five years. R and N’s receipt of donations upwards €60,000 in the months beforehand allows them, in effect, to be treated in law in the same way as Russian oligarchs are.
According to the ECJ
Applied to the field of communication and the broadcasting of media and digital content, that term refers to any natural or legal person directly or indirectly responsible for making available or transmitting that content to the public.
Pursuing the case against R, N, and K, the Saarbrücken Public Prosecutor’s Office welcomed the decision. For freedom of expression, the decision is highly unwelcome.
