Russian court orders shutdown of prominent human rights group
- The group rose to prominence for its studies of political repression in the Soviet Union and encompasses more than 50 smaller groups in Russia and abroad
- ‘The decision to shut down International Memorial is a grave insult to victims of the Russian Gulag …,’ said Amnesty International
Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that one of the country’s oldest and most prominent human rights organisations should be shut down, a move that stirred up public outrage and is the latest step in a months-long crackdown on rights activists, independent media and opposition supporters.
The Prosecutor General’s Office last month petitioned the Supreme Court to revoke the legal status of Memorial – an international human rights group that rose to prominence for its studies of political repression in the Soviet Union and currently encompasses more than 50 smaller groups in Russia and abroad.
The court on Tuesday ruled in favour of the prosecution, which charged at the hearing that Memorial “creates a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state, whitewashes and rehabilitates Nazi criminals.”
A video tweeted by the independent Mediazona news outlet showed a large crowd of people in front of the courthouse chanting “Disgrace!” in response to the ruling.
Memorial, also known in Russia as International Memorial, was declared a “foreign agent” in 2016 – a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations that can discredit the targeted organisation. In their lawsuit to shut it down, prosecutors alleged that the group repeatedly violated regulations obliging it to mark itself as a foreign agent, and tried to conceal the designation.