The project will close at the end of 2025, and from September 3, it will stop accepting new requests for legal assistance and will close its human rights direction.
«Unfortunately, over several years, the project was unable to find sufficient funding. Therefore, we made the very difficult decision to stop operations», — stated the project representatives.
In total, Avtozak provided assistance to defendants in 23 public and non-public cases, — «which seems like a small number, but behind each case lies a huge story of even greater injustice».
Earlier, there was a report about the closure of correspondent points in Russia due to the risks of criminal prosecution. According to the project's founder, Maxim Kondratyev, the Avtozak team is now thinking about how to maintain the platform for helping political prisoners in Russia, Politzek.org.
«We will start a final crowdfunding campaign so that our wards are not left without protection. I hope we can fully settle the debt with lawyers, otherwise, our defendants in active cases will be left without lawyers. In the last year, I have been covering most of the expenses from my income in other projects, but this is no longer possible», — wrote Kondratyev.
Avtozak LIVE — is a human rights media project that reports on protests, state violence, human rights violations, and helps political prisoners. In June 2022, the project left Russia, fearing criminal prosecution of its correspondents. In May 2024, Roskomnadzor blocked the Avtozak LIVE website in the territory of the Russian Federation.