Russia The Russian Supreme Court ordered the liquidation of the human rights organization Memorial

Russian the Supreme Court has ordered the abolition of the Memorial human rights organization, news agencies AFP and Reuters report. The judgment ordered the liquidation of the umbrella organization International Memorial and its regional organizations.

The organization has recorded a huge amount of historical information about the dictator Joseph Stalin persecution and its victims. Its merits include victims of political persecution data bank establishment. In addition, the organization defends the rights of political prisoners, migrants and other discriminated groups in Chechnya, for example.

Prosecutors say the Memorial “has created a false image of the Soviet Union as a terrorist state and desecrated the memory of World War II”.

Memorial has considered the charges political. Lawyer of the organization Maria Eismont said at the trial that the dissolution of the organization would increase the risk of “complete repression” in Russia.

“This is a bad sign that our society and our country are moving in the wrong direction,” says Memorial’s chairman of the board. Jan Raczyński news agency Tassille.

Proponents of Memorial gathered outside the Supreme Court called the verdict shameful. They see the order to abolish the Memorial as a halt to the post-Soviet democratic process.

Litigation Against the memorial began in late November. The organization was charged with administrative offenses that the prosecutor said violated the country’s “agent law”.

Memorial was named a foreign agent in Russia, as a result of which it had to include information about its agent status in all the materials it published. Under the law, all organizations receiving foreign funding are defined as foreign agents and are seen as acting against the interests of the Russian state.

The founders of the memorial have denied serious allegations. According to the organization, the “agent law” is also confusing and impossible to comply with.

Memorial intends to find legal avenues to continue its work despite the closure decision. In its statement, the organization says it intends to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision “in every possible way.”

Read more: Minor Violations Threaten to Destroy Massive Work to Record Stalin’s Persecution: Trial of Dissolution of Memorial Begins Today

Memorial was founded in 1989 and is Russia’s most respected human rights organization. The founders of the organization included a Nobel Peace Prize-winning nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov.

Historian and finder of mass graves in Karelia Yuri Dmitry is the head of the Karelian branch of Memorial. He is imprisoned for controversial sexual offenses. Dmitryev’s sentence was extended to 15 years on Monday.

Prosecutors have also demanded the closure of the Memorial Human Rights Center. The matter will be heard in Moscow court on Wednesday.