The Moscow City Court liquidated the Memorial Human Rights Center. This is stated in the court ruling, which he shared on his Facebook page at the Memorial Human Rights Center. The published text states that the decision on liquidation was made on the basis of a statement of claim by the Moscow prosecutor.
"Satisfy the administrative claim of the prosecutor of Moscow. Eliminate the interregional public organization "Human Rights Center "Memorial" and its structural units," is said in the court decision.
The day before, Russia's Supreme Court liquidated the International Memorial, a related organization specializing in the study of the history of repression in the Soviet Union.
Oleg Orlov, head of the Memorial Human Rights Center, told QIRIM.News that the formal reason for the liquidation of both organizations was a violation of the law on "foreign agents", namely the lack of markings on the information materials of organizations provided by law for organizations recognized as "foreign agents". The real reason, Orlov stressed, is ideological. He reminded that the prosecutor, speaking in the Supreme Court in the case of the International Memorial, noted that the organization "distorts history" and represents the Soviet Union as a terrorist state.
"In our case, everything is much more serious - Memorial Human Rights Center is accused of justifying extremism and terrorism. These are articles of the Criminal Code that forecast pretty long terms. In fact, we keep lists of convicted extremist and terrorist articles whose cases are falsified", he said. There can be no real excuse for terrorism.
The Memorial was established in the last years of the Soviet Union. The organization later split into the International Memorial, which studied the history of repression in the former Soviet Union, and the Memorial Human Rights Center, which specializes in legal aid. The Memorial Human Rights Center has repeatedly spoken out in support of Crimean Muslims accused of participating in a "terrorist organization" and recognized them as political prisoners. On December 28, the Supreme Court of Russia liquidated the International Memorial.
