Lisbon City Council fined for sharing activist data with Russia

The Lisbon City Council has been ordered by the South Central Administrative Court to pay a fine of 463,700 euros following the “Russiagate” case. The ruling concerns violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) involving the sharing of personal data belonging to anti-Putin activists with Russian authorities.

The case dates back to 2021, during the administration led by Fernando Medina. An audit revealed that the municipality shared data related to 52 protests, including information sent to the Russian embassy. The investigation also indicated that data was shared with the embassies of Israel, China, and Venezuela.

The final fine was reduced from an initial penalty of over 1 million euros due to the statute of limitations. Specifically, 42 administrative offenses expired during the legal proceedings, leading to a reduction of approximately 274,000 euros from a previous figure of 738,000 euros. While the court has established this amount, legal defense for the Lisbon City Council notes that the process may still undergo further changes.