Russian court orders the closure of the rights organization Memorial – EURACTIV.com

The Supreme Court of Russia ordered the closure of the memorial on Tuesday (December 28). This is the country’s most famous human rights organization, documenting the Stalin era purges and symbolizing post-Soviet democratization.

The year was ended with the ruling of Memorial International, which began with the imprisonment of President Putin’s chief critic Alexei Navalny and witnessed the historic repression of human rights organizations and independent media.

However, even in the current climate, the ban on memorials is outstanding, which was unthinkable a few years ago.

In November last year, Memorial stated that it had received a notice from the Russian Supreme Court that the prosecutor had requested the dissolution of the organization because the organization systematically violated the “foreign agent” legislation.

On Tuesday, Judge Alla Nazarova ordered the closure of Memorial International and its regional branches because prosecutors accused the organization of failing to label its publications as “foreign agents”, which is for receiving overseas The label of the funding group.

“Shame! Shame!” After the ruling, supporters yelled in the court.

The prosecutor also accused the Memorial International of discrediting the memory of the Soviet Union and its victory and rehabilitating “Nazi criminals.”

At the hearing on Tuesday, a prosecutor said that the memorial “created a false image of the Soviet Union as a terrorist country and discredited the memory of World War II.”

This decision was the heaviest blow ever to an organization founded in 1989 by Soviet dissidents (including Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov).

The ruling was made after Putin accused the organization of advocating “terrorist and extremist organizations.”

In a statement on Tuesday evening, Memorial International said it would appeal and find a “legal way” to continue its work.

The statement said: “Remembrance is not an organization, it is not even a social movement.” “Remembrance is the need for Russian citizens to understand the truth about its tragic past and the destiny of millions of people.”

‘Destructive news’

The court’s ruling also aroused strong international opposition.

“The persecution of the International Memorial and Memorial Center for Human Rights is an insult to its noble mission and the cause of human rights everywhere,” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken said in a statement.

“The Russian people — and the memory of millions of people who suffered from Soviet era repression — deserve better returns.”

Brinken added that the decision “was a year after Russia’s independent civil society, the media, and the space for democratic activists were rapidly shrinking.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian stated that the dissolution of the Commemoration International was a “terrible loss” for Russia, adding that this decision was “deeply worried” about the future of historical research and the defense of human rights.

Germany called the court’s decision “incomprehensible” and stated that it violated international obligations to protect basic civil rights.

Marija Pejcinovic Buric, Secretary-General of the European Commission, stated that “destructive news” means that Russia seems to be “moving away from our common European standards and values.”

Dozens of supporters gathered outside the court in cold temperatures, and several were detained.

Memorial is a loosely registered local organization structure. Memorial International maintains a large number of archives of the network in Moscow and coordinates its work.

The organization has been cataloging atrocities committed in the Soviet Union for many years, especially in the infamous concentration camp network Gulag.

Supporters say that its closure marks the end of an era in Russia’s post-Soviet democratization process, which began this month 30 years ago.

“Russian tragedy”

The author Leonid Bakhnov’s grandfather was executed at the height of the Stalinist purge in 1937, and he described the organization’s closure as a “Russian tragedy.”

“What a wonderful New Year they arranged for us,” he said bitterly.

The founder of Memorial denied any serious violations, saying that only a handful of documents may lack the “foreign agent” label.

Tuesday’s hearing was one of two cases filed against the organization. The prosecutor also asked the court to close the Human Rights Center at the memorial, accusing it of violating the “foreign agent” legislation and condoning “terrorism and extremism.”

On Wednesday, the Moscow court will hold a new hearing on the case.

The Human Rights Center of the memorial launched a campaign for the rights of political prisoners, immigrants and other marginalized groups, and emphasized abuses, especially in the turbulent North Caucasus, including Chechnya.

Political analyst Anton Orekh stated that the closure of the memorial is similar to a “public defense of Stalin’s purge.”

“The consequences for our country now and in the future will be catastrophic,” he added.

The Auschwitz Memorial tweeted: “A force that is afraid of memory will never be able to achieve democratic maturity.”

On Monday, a court in the northwestern city of Petrozavodsk increased the 13-year prison sentence in the sexual abuse case of Yury Dmitriyev, director of the Karelia Memorial Museum, by two years. Supporters called for punishment for his work.