RUSSIA’S TOP RIGHTS GROUP ORDERED CLOSED
Russia’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the nation’s most prominent human rights organization must close, signaling President Vladimir Putin’s long-standing determination to control the narrative of some of the most painful and repressive chapters of Russian history.
The court ordered the liquidation of Memorial International, which chronicled the harrowing persecutions in the infamous Stalin-era labor camps in an effort to preserve the memory of its victims.
The decision comes after a year of a broad crackdown on opposition in Russia as the Kremlin moved aggressively to stifle dissent. Shutting down Memorial is also another step in Putin’s effort to recast Russia’s legacy as a series of glorious accomplishments and soften the image of the often-brutal Soviet regime.
The hearing drew dozens of protesters outside the courthouse, and afterward families of those affected by Stalin’s repressions and opposition figures expressed outrage, pointing to the deepening level of repression under Putin.
Ilya Miklashevsky, 65, whose father and grandfather were both imprisoned in the gulag, said that Memorial’s closure represents “a new step downward,” adding that “the country is sleepily moving downhill.”
Sergei Mitrokhin, a Russian opposition politician, said that Memorial was “the last barrier on the way to complete Stalinization of the society and state.”
Memorial International oversees an archive of victims of Soviet persecution, mostly in the era of the gulags, forced labor camps where Russians were imprisoned in harsh conditions. The group’s database contains more than 3 million names — no more than one-quarter of all victims, according to the organization’s estimates.
Memorial’s lawyers have dismissed all of the accusations against the group as unfounded and called its persecution “politically motivated.”
In a statement, Memorial said that its members were intent on “finding legal ways” to continue their work.