20:02, 15 November 2021

Petition in defence of "Memorial"* has over 11,000 signatories

The authors of the petition call on the civil society to unite in defence of the "International Memorial"* and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"* and prevent the closure of these organizations. Facebook users have responded to the call to support human rights defenders and publish their posts with the hashtag #WeMemorial.

On November 11, the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia notified the "International Memorial"* (the International Historical, Educational, Charitable and Human Rights Society "Memorial*) that the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) had filed a lawsuit to liquidate the organization due to the absence of marking of the status of a foreign agent. On November 8, the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit with the Moscow City Court to liquidate the HRC "Memorial"*, claiming that the organization justifies extremism and terrorism. Human rights defenders treated these claims as absurd.

The petition in support of the "International Memorial"* and the HRC "Memorial"* was posted on the "Change.Org" on November 12. The petition asks the question of "what the civil society can oppose to attacks on the defenders of its history, memory and citizens' rights amid open repressions by Russian authorities."

Almost 15,000 people have signed the petition.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in August members of the "Syndicate-100" journalistic association called on President Vladimir Putin to amend the law on "foreign agents".

* The organization is included by the Russian MoJ into the register of non-commercial organizations (NCOs) performing the functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 14, 2021 at 08:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: The Caucasian Knot