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The decision came after the Prosecutor’s Office accused the NGO Memorial of creating “a false image of the Soviet Union as a terrorist state.” The Russian Supreme Court thus dissolves both the historical memory organization and the human rights defense organization that make up Memorial International. The NGO proposes to refute the opinion before the European Court of Human Rights, while the voices of rejection are raised by the last act of repression by the authorities of the country.
Hard blow in Russia against the main human rights organization and voice of the victims of the former Soviet Republic.
The Supreme Court ruled the closure of Memorial on December 28, for allegedly violating the controversial law on foreign agents, a regulation that requires internationally funded groups to clearly mark all their material as issued by “a foreign agent.” The organization has been classified in this category by the Russian authorities since 2016.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the group repeatedly violated the law by “hiding” the designation.
In addition, the accusing body pointed out that the organization tried to influence government policy and public opinion.
“It is obvious that Memorial creates a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state by speculating on the issue of 20th century political repression,” prosecutor Alexei Zhafyarov said during Tuesday’s hearing, adding that Memorial International distorts the history.
The accusations against Stalin’s crimes behind the ire of the Russian authorities
For opposition groups, the closure of the NGO is clearly motivated by the anger aroused in the government after the organization collected information on millions of deaths at the hands of the state, under the then Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
The Stalin-era crimes are seen as a thorny issue for the Kremlin, disrupting parts of the modern political establishment in Russia, as the security services are influential in the current government.
Proof of this is that the prosecuting party argued that Russian citizens should not be ashamed, and instead revel, in what they called the legacy of victory in World War II.
#UPDATE Russia’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the shutdown of Memorial, the country’s most prominent rights group
📸 A Memorial International’s supporter holds a poster reading ‘We will live forever’ outside Russia’s Supreme Court pic.twitter.com/SG3lMhZ0jf
– AFP News Agency (@AFP) December 28, 2021
Prosecutors claimed that the extensive lists of victims of Stalinist repression, compiled by Memorial International, also included “Nazi criminals with the blood of Soviet citizens on their hands.”
“That is why we, the descendants of the victors (of World War II), are forced to be vigilant in the attempts to rehabilitate the traitors of the homeland and Nazi collaborators,” said prosecutor Zhafyarov.
For his part, Memorial’s attorney, Henry Reznik, described the prosecutor’s comments and the ruling to shut down the organization as “reminiscent of the 1930s.”
“I am absolutely convinced that this demand was illegal” (…) But it is a political decision, “explained Reznik.
Memorial will appeal the verdict to the European Court of Human Rights
In defiance of the ruling of the Russian Supreme Court, Memorial International President Jan Raczynski announced that his organization will appeal the verdict in Russia and, if necessary, go to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Furthermore, the organization’s leaders promise to continue their work as usual until all appeals against the ban are exhausted.
“Prosecutors cannot stop Memorial’s work,” Raczynski said, assuring that there are “many people who identify with Memorial” even though they do not belong to any organization.
He explained that there are many organizations attached to the NGO, but that they are not registered or are not listed as legal persons.
This is considered the latest step in the Russian authorities’ crackdown on activists, independent media and opponents. A situation that has deepened in recent years after the entry into force of the rules on foreign agents.
Some of them were labeled as “undesirable”, a statement that prohibits any individual or conglomerate from having ties with them, several were forced to close or dissolve to avoid further prosecution.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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