Koroteev: on June 23 HRC "Memorial" to challenge court refusal on "foreign agent" ruling

The Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" plans to appeal against the ruling of the Zamoskvorechye District Court of Moscow, which had dismissed the complaint lodged by the Centre against the demand of the Prosecutor's Office to get registered as a "foreign agent", said Kirill Koroteev, the lawyer of the HRC "Memorial".

According to his story, the Court had insufficiently motivated the ruling.

Following the May 23 court session, where the complaint of the HRC "Memorial" was considered, some media reported that the Court obliged the Centre to get registered as a "foreign agent"; however, as reported by Grigory Okhotin, a member of the editorial board of the media portal "OVD-Info", the essence of the ruling was a bit different.

"It's not quite true – the Court did not recognize the HRC 'Memorial' to be a 'foreign agent'. It refused to satisfy the complaint of the Centre on the illegality of the presentation of the Prosecutor's Office about the need for the HRC to get enrolled in the registry of ''foreign agents'," Okhotin wrote on his page in the Facebook.

According to his version, the outcome of the trial on the complaint of the HRC "Memorial" showed that "people in the vertical are unable, in principle, to understand the horizontal people."

"All my explanations that the 'OVD-Info' and the HRC 'Memorial' are not in relations of vertical subordination, but are free partners, which ensures the editorial independence of the project, were perceived by the court as cunning judicial subterfuges," Okhotin has noted.

See earlier reports: ""Court in Novocherkassk rules to recognize "Union of Don Women" as "foreign agent"", "Federation Council approves law on forced inclusion of NGOs in register of "foreign agents"", "Rights defenders criticize Court's decision to dismiss complaint filed by HRC "Memorial"".