"Memorial"* rights defenders respond with strategy to tactics of Russian authorities and courts

The decision to liquidate the "Memorials"* in Russia was made by authorities; and the courts formally approached the issue and fulfilled the political order, human rights defenders have stated after the consideration of the complaint lodged by the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial"*. The "Memorial"* activists have treated their decision to go through all the Russia's available judicial instances as their long-term strategy designed for the future.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Moscow Court of Cassation upheld the decision to liquidate the HRC "Memorial"*, adopted by the Moscow City Court on December 29, 2021.

At the consideration by the cassation, Alexandra Baeva, a lawyer for the "Memorial"*, pointed out the legal uncertainty of the law on foreign agents, which led to the liquidation of the "Memorials"*. "The breadth of wordings in this law ... serves to restrict the freedoms of speech, association and self-expression," she has stated.

Ms Baeva has treated the liquidation of the "Memorials"* as a tragedy, the pretext for which was in a minor violation – "the absence of marking of a foreign agent in social networks and in one letter to an official organization."

The "Memorial"* will go through all the instances in Russia, Oleg Orlov, the board chairman of the liquidated HRC "Memorial"*, has added.

"We already have a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Despite the fact that there'll be no immediate practical benefit from this, we are playing a long-term game ... We, Russian human rights defenders, hope to live to see a free, democratic Russia, when we'll restore our trampled rights" Mr Orlov has explained.