Liquidation of the International Historical, Educational, Charitable and Human Rights Society “Memorial” (recognized in Russia as a non-profit foreign agent – ed.) Is a dark day for civil society in Russia. This is stated in the statement of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Maria Pejcinovic-Buric.
According to her, “this is devastating news for civil society in Russia.” She stressed that the existence and development of civil society organizations is an important pillar of any European democracy.
“But Russia seems to be moving further and further away from our common European standards and values,” Pejchinovic-Buric said.
She noted that Moscow ignored repeated calls from the Council of Europe to revise the law on foreign agents and rejected a proposal to revise the legislation in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights.
“This is extremely unfortunate,” added Pejcinovic-Buric. “We continue to offer our help and expertise, but today is a dark day for civil society in Russia.”
We will remind, earlier today it became known that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation liquidated “International Memorial” at the suit of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation. The supervisory authority insisted that the organization carried out activities in violation of the Constitution and the requirements of the legislation on foreign agents. The prosecution pointed out that Memorial “speculates on the topic of repression of the 20th century and creates a false image of the USSR.” The defense intends to appeal the decision.
Memorial was added to the list of non-profit organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent in 2016.
Meanwhile, the head of the Human Rights Council under the President of the Russian Federation, Valery Fadeev, believes that it is worth allowing the organization to continue working to preserve the memory of the victims of political repression. At the same time, he noted that Memorial needs to eliminate the revealed violations.
Source: Rosbalt
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