MoJ announces its readiness to withdraw claim on dissolution of "Memorial"

The Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is ready to withdraw its claim from the Supreme Court with a request for dissolution of the human rights organization "Memorial", the MoJ's press service reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Russian Supreme Court had scheduled for November 13 the consideration of the claim filed by the Russian MoJ to dissolve the Russian "Memorial". The human rights defenders are going to appeal to the Constitutional Court, since they believe that the MoJ restricts the rights of the citizens to form associations.

"In case if the organization eliminates all the violations, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation has the right to withdraw its claim," the MoJ has explained.

A number of human rights defenders spoke out to condemn the possible dissolution of the "Memorial". Lyudmila Alekseeva, the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG), believes the dissolution of the human rights organization will shock the international community.

According to Lev Ponomaryov, the leader of the movement "For Human Rights", the claims against the "Memorial" are formal and purely bureaucratic.

On October 22, Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament, urged the Russian authorities not to close the "Memorial". According to him, the Russian "Memorial" preserves the legacy of Andrei Sakharov.

Earlier, the Russian MoJ has pointed out that the claim for dissolution of the "Memorial" was filed to the court after two preliminary warnings.