A court in St. Petersburg imposed a fine of 20,000 rubles (approximately $254) on the manager of the historical bookstore Podpisniye Izdaniya for selling a memoir written by a jailed Belarusian anarchist.

According to the press service of the Kuibyshevsky District Court, Yelena Orlova was found guilty of engaging with an “undesirable” organization.

The bookstore reportedly offered for sale the memoir “I’m Off to Magadan,” authored by Belarusian anarchist Ihar Alinevich in 2013, which Russian officials allege was published with backing from the U.S.-based Anarchist Black Cross Federation.

In February 2024, Russia’s Ministry of Justice labeled the Anarchist Black Cross Federation an “undesirable” organization, effectively prohibiting its operations in the country and putting its members and associates at risk of criminal charges.

Orlova stated during the court proceedings that Podpisniye Izdaniya had acquired “I’m Off to Magadan” before the Anarchist Black Cross Federation was placed on the blacklist in Russia, as reported by local news. Her attorney mentioned that the book was promptly taken off the shelves following the ban in February 2024.

However, a representative from the court contested this assertion, indicating that a copy of the book was purchased from the bookstore as recently as December 2024.

Earlier this year, Podpisniye Izdaniya faced fines for selling books deemed in violation of Russia’s “LGBT propaganda” laws, which included works by authors like Susan Sontag and Olivia Laing.

In April, the bookstore was instructed to remove 48 titles from its inventory in light of these allegations.