Moscow – The Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko (67) triggers a humanitarian catastrophe on the border with Poland. The Russian ruler Vladimir Putin (69) not only lets him go, he supports him.
Meanwhile, in Russia, even independent human rights organizations are being suppressed even more. “Memorial” is one of the most important and well-known. It is now even threatened with closure.
Founded in 1987 during the reign of Gorbachev, Memorial continues to deal with Stalinist crimes and current human rights violations.
“It says on my business card that I am a foreign agent. This must also be mentioned in all of our publications or even on Twitter, ”said Co-Chair, Irina Ostrovskaya (65), in an interview with BILD.
Photo: BILD / Sergey Kozmin
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/irina-ostrovskaya-ist-co-vorsitzende-der-menschenrechtsorganisation-memorial-b2c57d1db1864df1922f2b3762f97e42-78235580/Bild/5.bild.jpg “/> Irina Ostrovskaya is co-chair of the human rights organization “Memorial” Photo: BILD / Sergey Kozmin
Background: “Memorial” has long been in the sights of the Russian government. Part of the financing of the international organization comes from abroad, including the Council of Europe. In 2013, therefore, a law was passed requiring the Memorial people to identify themselves as “foreign agents”.
“We were branded back then,” says Ostrovskaya.
And further: “When I show my business card to ordinary people on the street, they think that I am a foreign spy. A criminal. And that was exactly the aim of this law. The people in Russia should be afraid of us and not turn to us. “
Photo: BILD / Sergey Kozmin
“data-zoom-src =” https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/auf-der-rueckseite-von-irina-ostrovskayas-visitenkarte-muss-estand-dass-sie-auslaendische-agentin-is-c73ca2f9473e44eeb2429e86998d7bfb- 78235568 / Bild / 5.bild.jpg “/> The back of Irina Ostrovskaya’s business card must say that she is a “foreign agent”Photo: BILD / Sergey Kozmin
The harassment against human rights defenders continues.
For example, every three months the organization has to present its accounts to the state and provide the names of the employees. And it wasn’t until October 14 that a Memorial event was attacked by youth who were loyal to the Kremlin. This action was filmed by state television in order to later present the attack as a spontaneous action by young people against traitors. The police that were called did not even record the personal details of the masked perpetrators.
▶︎ The public prosecutor’s office is now calling for Memorial to be dissolved. Reason: The organization did not mark all published books as publications by foreign agents.
“These allegations are absolutely absurd,” says Irina Ostrovskaya.
“We received a fine, among other things, because we did not mark books that were published long before this law as books by a foreign agent. We will now use all legal means to fight our impending closure. After so many years of work, we won’t just give up and give up. “