Russia’s Supreme Court has ordered the closure of Memorial International, the country’s oldest human rights organisation, during Vladimir Putin’s uprising.
The court ruled that the Memorial should be banned under Russian “foreign agent” law, which regulates a number of NGOs and media outlets that are considered critical of the government.
The Memorial was established in the late 1980’s to document the political repression perpetrated under the Soviet Union, creating a site for victims of the Great Terror victims and gulag camps. The Memorial Human Rights Center, a sister organization that advocates for the rights of political prisoners and other causes, is also facing the abolition of “terrorism and extremism”.
The closure of Memorial International marks a milestone in modern Russian history, as attempts to raise awareness of crime under Soviet leaders such as Joseph Stalin have become commonplace 30 years after the opening of government secrecy following the end of the Soviet Union. Although he does not really want to return to the Soviet past, Putin is now more sensitive to any criticism from groups including the Memorial.
Genri Reznik, a lawyer who represented the Memorial on Tuesday, called the decision to close it “political”, adding that the hearing reminded him of the Soviet show in the 1930s.
The decision follows an ongoing crackdown on Russian civil society this year that has led to the arrest of opposition leaders such as Alexei Navalny, prominent activists and refugees fleeing the country, and NGOs and the media have been fined and banned under Russian “foreign delegates”. and “unwanted” rules.
The judge, Alla Nazarova, ordered the closure of the organization on the grounds of “repeated violation” and “cruelty” of Russia’s foreign agency’s laws, which the Memorial called “political motives” but said it did follow.
The decision will close “Memorial International Historical, Educational, Charitable, and Human Rights Society, its regional branches and other structures,” he said.
In defending the organization, Reznik stated: “The Memorial organization improves the health of the nation. To end this in the history of the world now means to contribute to the idea that ‘the state is always right’. ”
Interfax News quoted a Memorial lawyer as saying that he would appeal to Russia and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The Russian prosecutor described the organization as a political weapon used by foreign governments to strip modern-day Russians of their present achievements. Those conflicts are closely related to the Kremlin’s use of Soviet history as a public forum and the re-interpretation of important historical moments in its dealings with European countries.
“Clearly, by investing in the issue of political revenge in the 20th century, the Memorial portrays the USSR as a terrorist country and shines and fights Nazi criminals with the blood of Soviet citizens in their hands,” said Alexei Zhafyarov. , a representative of Russia’s attorney general’s office, during the trial.
“Why should we, the descendants of the conquerors, see the forgiveness of the apostates in their country and in the support of the Nazis? … Probably because someone is paying for that. And this is the real reason why Memorial is trying so hard to reject his position of foreign agent, ”he said.
About 100 supporters of the party gathered outside the court on Tuesday. Many sang “disgrace” after the verdict was handed down. Police arrested several people.
The Memorial leadership hoped that the party’s extensive public support could save it from closure. In previous cases, the group sent more than 127,000 signatures in support of the organization, as well as testimonials from those who had obtained the gulag and other records revealed by the Memorial.
“The long-term work of the Memorial has always been aimed at restoring historical justice, preserving the memory of hundreds of thousands of victims during the years of oppression, preventing such things now and in the future,” wrote former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev. Novaya Gazeta editor Dmitry Muratov in a joint statement last month. They asked prosecutors to recall their request for the Memorial.
The cleansing of the Russian opposition and non-governmental organizations has continued until the end of the year. Last week a BBC Russian reporter announced that he had fled the country after being labeled a “foreign agent” and felt that he was under surveillance, while OVD-Info, a website that monitors arrests and court cases, was shut down as a foreign agent. ”. Two former Navalny national political party coordinators were also arrested on charges of extremism on Tuesday.
The daughter of Natalya Estemirova, a former member of the Memorial board who was executed in Chechnya for her human rights work in 2009, wrote in response: “My mother used to say: ‘It could not be worse.’ it is possible. ”