The Moscow prosecutor's office demands the liquidation of the Memorial Human Rights Center

Human rights activists are accused of violating the law on "foreign agents" and publishing materials that justify extremism and terrorism.

November 8, 2021 the Moscow Prosecutor's Office applied to the Moscow City Court with a claim for liquidation Human Rights Center "Memorial". A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for November 23.

In the lawsuit The statement says that "Memorial" did not declare itself as an NGO - "foreign agent", and after the Ministry of Justice itself included him in the relevant list, received eight fines for the lack of "foreign agency" marking on materials, posted on a number of Internet pages associated with the center. According to prosecutor's office, "an organization in its activity demonstrates a steady disregard for the law, does not provide publicity of their activities, hinders proper public control over her" and thereby "grossly violates the rights of citizens, including the right to reliable information about its activities.

Prosecutor's office also included in the statement of claim a psycholinguistic study performed by Center for Sociocultural Expertise, infamous in connection with with the drawing up of numerous questionable conclusions. According to expertise, in materials center" there are linguistic and psychological signs of justifying the activities of participants in international terrorist and extremist organizations Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islami, Tablighi Jamaat, "At-Takfir Wal Hijra", as well as extremist organizations "Artpodgotovka" and "Jehovah's Witnesses" " . " Activities of these organizations presented by the authors of these materials as legitimate and permissible, and participation in their activities as one of the forms of exercising the right to freedom religion… These materials are aimed at the formation of an indefinite circle of people of the idea of ​​the permissibility of carrying out terrorist and extremist activities, namely the activities of international extremist and terrorist organizations and participation in them "In addition, the prosecutor's office claims that the materials of the center " deny the facts established by the decisions of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation that have entered into force, an opinion is formed about their illegality and non-binding execution ." As the HRC Memorial explains, we are talking about the list of political prisoners - the center has been keeping it since 2008 as part of the program to support defendants in criminal cases whose prosecution considers politically motivated - and information about these cases, listed on the center's website.

Owl Center considers the attempt to liquidate Memorial HRC, as well as the International Memorial, a lawsuit for the liquidation of which was simultaneously filed with the Supreme Court The Prosecutor General's Office, also under the pretext of violating the law on "foreign agents", disproportionate and unreasonable measure and expresses support and solidarity employees of both organizations.

Recall what's the center "Sova" was also included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of non-profit "foreign agents" in 2016, we do not agree with this decision and will appeal it to European Court of Human Rights. We believe that registering "foreign agents" is an attempt to stigmatize organizations and representatives of civil society not because their activities are contrary to the interests of Russian citizens, but because it is inconvenient for the authorities. Persons involved in the registers of "foreign agents" face a loss of rights - with a limitation of the ability to participate in the public and political life of the country, with an intrusion into their right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of association, economic rights and the right to privacy. The status of "foreign agent" prevents the worker interaction with official authorities, educational and scientific institutions and simply scares people away. Numerous exorbitant duties imposed on "foreign agents" - extracurricular checks, unreasonable and unclear reporting requirements, labeling of materials, etc. - have already led to the closure of a number of organizations. All this in in general, including severe sanctions imposed for violation of the legislation on "foreign agents", creates an atmosphere of fear and suppresses the development civil society in Russia. We are convinced that the persecution of "foreign agents" should be discontinued and the relevant legislation should be repealed as contrary to international human rights law and constitutional rights citizens of Russia.

As for more serious charges, from our point of view view, no signs of justification of extremism and terrorism in the materials of the HRC Memorial is not. By making such claims to human rights defenders organizations, Russian law enforcement agencies are trying to get rid of unpleasant issues that arise in connection with questionable bans as extremist or terrorist organizations not involved in violence or incitement to hatred, leading to violence or discrimination. Whatever charges are brought against those or other organizations or individuals, the right to freedom of expression guarantees the opportunity to openly express doubts about the validity of the relevant decisions of the courts and to present arguments in support of these doubts. Such opportunity should be for human rights activists, lawyers, and ordinary citizens. disagreement with the position of law enforcement agencies or courts regarding decisions declaring someone as terrorists or extremists does not mean supporting violence or misanthropy. Moreover, disagreement with the position of law enforcement bodies or courts in cases related to a particular ideology, absolutely not means support for such an ideology - and HRC "Memorial" directly declared on the pages of the program to support those whom he considers political prisoners.

We sincerely hope that society will not allow the destruction of the most important organizations for the historical memory and protection of the rights of Russian citizens.

Sources

• "Justification of extremism and terrorism": Moscow City Prosecutor's Office found additional grounds for the liquidation of the HRC // HRC "Memorial". November 12, 2021