Lisbon city council loses appeal against €1M fine in ‘Russiagate’ case

Portugal’s South Central Administrative Court has dismissed Lisbon city council’s  appeal against the decision to fine the local authority around €1 million for sharing data on Russian activists in the case known as ‘Russiagate’.

The news reported on Wednesday by the Diário de Notícias newspaper, and confirmed by Lusa, refers to a decision taken on Friday, to which that newspaper had access, in which the judges responsible state that “the only conclusion that can be reached is that the Lisbon local authority acted with intent, since it has been demonstrated that its conduct violated administrative duties, and the local authority of Lisbon was aware of this violation”.

This is the second defeat for Lisbon city council in court over a €1.25 million fine imposed by the National Data Protection Commission (CNPD) on the local authority in 2022 for violations of the General Data Protection Regulation when “communicating the personal data of demonstration organisers to third parties”.

At the time, the CNPD identified 225 infringements in communications made by the local authority in connection with demonstrations, rallies and parades.

The fine was the result of proceedings initiated following a report received by the CNPD on 19 March 2021.

At issue was the communication by the Portuguese local authority to the Russian embassy in Portugal and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs of personal data of the organisers of a demonstration held outside the embassy.

The activists, dissidents of the Russian regime, had held a protest in January 2021 for the release of Russian government opponent Alexey Navalny, and argued that the Lisbon city council had jeopardised their safety and that of their families in Russia when it disclosed their data.

The initial fine imposed on the city council was reduced due to the expiry of some regulatory offences and now stands at €738,000. According to Diário de Notícias, this figure corresponds to 65 regulatory offences.

The decision made public today is open to appeal.

Lisbon city council has since said it will appeal “to the limit” today’s ruling  to “protect taxpayers”, even though it considers the sharing of activists’ data to be “a mistake”, the mayor said. Social Democrat Carlos Moedas was speaking to journalists during a visit to the Alvalade barracks of the Lisbon Fire Brigade.