The NGO Memorial unmasked the crimes of the communist dictator, Iósif Stalin, to rehabilitate his victims, pay homage to them and prevent them from falling into oblivion
After a month and a half of sessions and deliberations, the Supreme Court of Russia decided on Tuesday to outlaw the NGO Memorial, an organization whose main task has been to unmask the crimes of the communist dictator, Iósif Stalin, achieve the rehabilitation of his victims, pay them homage and prevent them from falling into oblivion. Memorial has documented the brutal Stalinist repression, summary executions and prison sentences in the Gulag, the terrible prison camps from which it was impossible to escape. Over time, he incorporated into his activity the assistance to political prisoners and the defense of Human Rights in general.
Judge Alla Nazárova, read the sentence, according to which all organizations linked to Memorial are banned. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office assured that Memorial, which had previously been declared as a “foreign agent”, “represents a public threat, since it speculates in relation to repression of a political nature (…) and creates a false image of the Union Soviet as a terrorist state. ‘ The representative of the Prosecutor’s Office present at the trial also based the petition for dissolution due to “the constant violations of the legislation on foreign agents.”
A large group of opposition activists gathered outside the court building who, after hearing the ruling ordering the closure of Memorial, shouted “disgrace, disgrace! Defense attorney for the NGO, Henri Réznik, described the sentence as “politically motivated”. In his opinion, “the speech of the Prosecutor’s Office has reminded us of the repressive trials of 1930”, organized against Stalin’s adversaries and also motivated by imperatives of a political nature.
Repressive wave
And, indeed, the ban on Memorial is part of the repressive wave launched by the Kremlin against its critics, which has been intensified in 2021 with the arrest and imprisonment of the opposition leader, Aléxei Navalni, in addition to the dismantling of its platform, the called the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Another of Memorial’s lawyers, María Eismont, said Tuesday that what happened with Memorial “is a disastrous, unfair decision (…) it returns Russia to its past and increases the danger of further repression.” At the same time, in another judicial case opened at the Moscow Municipal Court, whose hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, Memorial is accused of “apology for terrorism and extremism” of ensuring the conditions of detention of people accused of crimes of terrorism.
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