The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) demanded from Russia to suspend the execution of court decisions on the liquidation of the International Historical and Educational Society “Memorial” (“MM”) and the Human Rights Center “Memorial”. This is stated in a letter to the ECHR, posted on Wednesday, December 29, in the Telegram channel of the human rights center.
It notes that the liquidation must be suspended at least until the ECHR makes a decision on the complaint against the law on “foreign agents”, which was filed back in 2013 by 11 Russian non-profit organizations, including “MM” and “Memorial”.
“The Chairperson of the section to which the case was assigned … decided to indicate to the Russian Government, in accordance with Rule 39, that in the interests of the parties and the proper conduct of the proceedings – the execution of the decisions to liquidate the applicant organizations should be suspended for the period necessary for the Court’s consideration of Application No. 9988 / 13 “, – follows from the screen of the letter of the ECHR.
RF Supreme Court banned International Memorial
Earlier, on December 28, the Russian Armed Forces decided to ban the International Memorial. It was decided to liquidate the society and its regional divisions. The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, in its claim to the court, argued that Memorial allegedly repeatedly violated the laws, and was also engaged in political activities with the aim of influencing government decisions and shaping public opinion.
The organization rejected the claims of the department. Memorial will appeal the decision of the RF Armed Forces in Russian courts, and if necessary, in the European Court of Human Rights.
On Wednesday, December 29, the Moscow City Court ruled to liquidate the Memorial Human Rights Center. The judge spent less than one minute to read out the verdict. After that, the bailiffs escorted all the journalists out of the broadcast hall, from where they followed the course of the trial.
Claims of the Prosecutor General’s Office
In November, the prosecutor’s office announced its intention to liquidate two structures of the “Memorial”. One lawsuit, on the liquidation of International Memorial, was filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office with the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The second statement – on the liquidation of the Memorial human rights center – was sent by the Moscow prosecutor’s office to the Moscow City Court. The reason for going to court, as indicated in the suit of the Prosecutor General’s Office, was the repeated, gross violations by Memorial of the laws of the Russian Federation and other legal acts, in particular the law on “foreign agents”.
Protests against the liquidation of Memorial
The decision to liquidate International Memorial caused a huge resonance not only in Russia, but also in the international arena. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called the persecution of Memorial organizations an insult to human rights activities around the world. The German government condemned the actions of the Russian authorities as contradicting international obligations to protect fundamental civil rights. Amnesty International, a major international human rights organization, called for the cancellation of the decision to ban Memorial, calling it an insult to the memory of the millions of victims of the Gulag.
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