Russian MoJ issues warning to HRC "Memorial"

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Russia has revealed violations in the activities of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", which should be eliminated before December 21. The MoJ's claims concern the HRC's Charter, which will be amended, said Alexander Cherkasov, the head of the HRC.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 9 the HRC "Memorial" received by mail the final act of the routine audit, which had been conducted since October 5 by the Chief Department for Moscow of the MoJ. According to rights defenders, on the basis of the audit, the MoJ accused the HRC of "undermining the constitutional order of Russia."

The above act states that "certain provisions of the Charter contradict the provisions of Article 54 of the Civil Code, according to which the Charter of a non-profit organization (NPO) shall define the subject and aims of activity, and not the tasks," the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta" writes.

The HRC "Memorial" is ready to bring its Charter into compliance with the legislation, Alexander Cherkasov said in his turn.

Along with that, he disagreed with the protocol on an administrative offense. According to Cherkasov, the MoJ had no reasons to conclude that the leadership of the HRC had failed to present documents to the MoJ in time.

The head of the HRC "Memorial" has also stressed that he intends to seek an explanation from the MoJ concerning the accusations "of undermining the state order," the TASS reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.