The Memorial Human Rights Center’s* lawyers have appealed the decision on its annihilation to the First Court of Appeal. On December 29, 2021, the Moscow City Court annihilated the organization due to the publication of materials without foreign agent labeling. Memorial’s* lawyers reported this on the official website.
In the appeal, human rights activists outlined the reasons why the court should have reversed the Moscow City Court’s decision. The lawyers believe that the Memorial Human Rights Center’s* annihilation contradicts Russia's international obligations, the reasons of the organization's prosecution are not a major breach of the law, and the annihilation itself is a disproportionate responsive action.
The Memorial Human Rights Center’s* lawyer Tatyana Glushkova said that the organization had remedied all failures and paid more than 4 million rubles for the fines imposed on it. In addition, according to the human rights activist, the organization’s annihilation is repeated liability for the same offenses.
On December 28, 2021, the Supreme Court of Russia annihilated the International Memorial* Historical and Educational Society due to violations of the law on foreign agents. The organization has been repeatedly fined for the lack of the label. It entered the list of foreign-agent NPOs on October 4, 2016. International Memorial’s* lawyers appealed the decision on its annihilation on January 31.
The next day, on December 29, the Moscow City Court annihilated the Memorial* Human Rights Center for the same reason. The Prosecutor General's Office and the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office filed almost identical lawsuits to the courts. The difference in the processes was that the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office found "justification" of terrorist and extremist organizations’ activities on the Memorial Human Rights Center’s* website.
The European Court of Human Rights demanded suspending the enforcement of decisions on International Memorial's* and the Memorial Human Rights Center's* annihilation. Activists in different cities of Russia spoke for the judgements’ reversal. For example, the Communist Party’s members in the Komi State Council urged the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia to drop the suits on International Memorial’s* annihilation.
