“I received foreign money in the person of my neighbor’s husband, who repaid the debt for her” – Ilya Pigalkin, an employee of Golos, about how he became a foreign agent

The coordinator of the Golos movement in the Ivanovo region, Ilya Pigalkin, was recognized as a foreign agent because the neighbor’s husband returned the debt to him. About this he told SOTA edition.

The Justice Ministry report states that Pigalkin received 2,000 rubles from Mohammed Hanif Babur Shah. He was a citizen of Afghanistan, but then received Russian citizenship. Mohammed is the ex-husband of Pigalkin’s neighbor (the neighbor stated this in court as a witness), who periodically borrowed money from him.

On September 29, 2021, the Ministry of Justice included in the register of foreign agents 22 authors of Golos, Mediazona, including its founder Pyotr Verzilov, as well as OVD-info.

Earlier, Golos coordinators in the Altai Territory and Tambov, Katerina Kiltau and Vladimir Zhilkin, said that they were included in the list of “foreign agents” because of two money transfers, each of which did not exceed the amount of 200 rubles. Kiltau posted copies of the documents on her Facebook page. It follows from them that on August 24 she received a money transfer for 200 rubles from a citizen of Tajikistan, Otabek Kholdorboevich.

“I tried to return the money, because I didn’t know who it was, and most importantly, why. Did not work out. From open sources, it became clear that he studied at the Polytechnic University in Barnaul (like me), and is now repairing apartments. Apparently, someone asked him to do this, most likely in exchange for a quiet life, ”Kiltau explained.

The coordinator of Golos in the Altai Territory also noted that another amount, 7,047 rubles, appears in the document for 2020, another “foreign agent” of the League of Voters. “The League itself was recognized as IA for a donation of 255 rubles 40 kopecks. from a Moldovan citizen,” she added.

Zhilkin, coordinator of the Tambov branch of Golos, said on Facebook that he was added to the list of “foreign agents” after he received 171 rubles from a Moroccan student Lotfi Hazma in February 2020 as payment for a taxi ride.

The all-Russian public movement in defense of the rights of voters “Voice” is monitoring the elections, identifying attempts to falsify the results of the vote. On August 18, the Ministry of Justice entered Golos into the register of “foreign agents”.