Russian Supreme Court dissolves NGO Memorial, pillar of defense of freedoms in the country
The association works to protect human rights and studies the crimes of the Soviet regime. The lawsuits against her are seen as a new level in the crackdown on President Vladimir Putin against critical voices.
The decision was awaited and scrutinized abroad. The Russian Supreme Court announced on Tuesday (December 28th) the liquidation of the NGO Memorial, a pillar of the fight against repression in contemporary Russia and guardian of the memory of the victims of the gulag.
The move comes at the end of a year marked by growing repression of people, NGOs and media perceived to be critical of President Vladimir Putin, in power for nearly twenty-two years. "The decision is to liquidate Memorial International and its regional branches," the NGO wrote on its Telegram account.
A few seconds earlier, the judge, Alla Nazarova, had said "to accede to the request of the prosecution" to dissolve this NGO. In question, the non-compliance with obligations arising from his status as "foreign agent". This label - reminiscent of that of "enemy of the people" in the USSR - designates organizations considered to be acting against Russian interests because they receive foreign funds.
"This is a vicious, unfair decision," said defense lawyer Maria Eïsmont. Memorial has been investigating the Soviet purges for more than thirty years and identifies contemporary repressions, especially those of Mr. Putin's regime. The organization had said before the verdict that it would do its best to continue its work, even if it was banned. "To liquidate Memorial International returns Russia to its past, and increases the danger of [new] repressions", had estimated in court Mrs. Eïsmont.
The prosecution called for Memorial's dissolution in early November, accusing him of having "systematically" violated the obligations of his "foreign agent" status. Before the court on Tuesday, the prosecutor, Alexeï Jafiarov, cracked down on a formal attack targeting the NGO, accusing it of "creating a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state", of "smearing the memory ”of the Second World War and to seek to“ rehabilitate Nazi criminals ”.
But Memorial's legal problems do not end there. In another case, the prosecution demands the dissolution of its Human Rights Defense Center, accused of condoning "terrorism and extremism", in addition to violations of the law on "foreign agents". In this case, a hearing is scheduled for Wednesday before a court in Moscow. Lawyers for the NGO have denounced unfounded, disproportionate and political persecution, with Memorial being one of the latest victims in a long list of NGOs, opponents and media that have fallen victim to prosecution in recent months.
Dozens of NGOs, opponents and independent media prosecuted
In early 2021 - and for two and a half years - authorities jailed the Kremlin's number one opponent, Alexei Navalny, then banned his organization in June on charges of "extremism." Several of his supporters were arrested again on Tuesday. Dozens of people, NGOs defending human rights or sexual minorities and independent media have been recognized as "foreign agents" or accused of extremism.
Moscow has also gone on the offensive on the digital front, increasing blockades of websites deemed dissident and fines against web giants who fail to remove opposition-related content. Memorial's troubles illustrate the clash between two visions of Russian history, thirty years after the break-up of the Soviet Union, described by Vladimir Putin as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the twentieth century.
Founded in the twilight of the USSR by dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, Memorial's mission was to shed light on the millions of victims of Soviet crimes. For its defenders, it is now subject to the increasingly accentuated promotion by the Kremlin of a vision of history glorifying the power of the USSR and minimizing the excesses of Stalinism.
The Center for the Defense of Human Rights is specialized in the violations committed in its eyes by the contemporary Russian state. For its activities, Memorial has long been under pressure and has already paid a heavy price. In 2009, his manager in Chechnya, Natalia Estemirova, was kidnapped and then executed. One of its historians, Yuri Dmitriev, was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison for a "sexual assault" case denounced as a stunt intended to punish him for his research into Soviet terror.