People gather outside a court building during a hearing of the Russian Supreme Court to consider the closure of the human rights group Memorial in Moscow, Russia, December 14, 2021. — Reuters pic
MOSCOW, Dec 14 — Russia’s Supreme Court reconvened today to hear a request to shut down Memorial, the country’s most prominent rights group and a pillar of its civil society.
In court for alleged violations of its designation as a “foreign agent”, Memorial is facing its biggest threat since being founded by Soviet dissidents including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov in 1989.
Dozens of supporters gathered in sub-zero temperatures in front of the Supreme Court building in central Moscow and two police vans could be seen parked nearby.
One supporter holding a placard saying “Hands off Memorial” was detained, the group said.
“It is necessary to preserve Memorial so that we can understand where we lived, where our parents lived, and where we cannot return,” said supporter Vladimir Ananich.
The 64-year-old doctor labelled the Russian authorities “grandchildren of Stalin” and accused them of trying to restore a climate of fear.
“They don’t want people to think about what is happening in the country, because it is scary,” he said.
Grigory Vaipan, a lawyer for Memorial, told AFP on Monday that the organisation could be shut down “as early as tomorrow”.
Supporters of the group say its closure would signal the end of an era in Russia’s post-Soviet democratisation process.
Prosecutors have asked the Supreme Court to dissolve Memorial International, the group’s central structure, for alleged failures to use the “foreign agent” label.
“Foreign agents” are required to include language denoting their statues on all of their publications, including social media posts.
After the high-profile trial began on November 25, activists asked President Vladimir Putin to intervene.
But the Russian leader signalled his backing to do away with the NGO, telling his human rights council that Memorial had been advocating on behalf of “terrorist and extremist organisations”.
Memorial has been compiling a list of political prisoners that includes religious minorities banned in Russia and Putin’s most prominent critic Alexei Navalny, whose political organisations were closed this year.
Oleg Orlov, a board member at Memorial, said today he was still hoping authorities would reconsider.
“Hope springs eternal,” he told AFP. — AFP