The head of the liquidated Memorial in Perm, Robert Latypov, left Russia after threats

The head of the liquidated Memorial in Perm, Robert Latypov, left Russia. He clarified that he did not ask for political asylum. This was reported by the publication “Idel.Realii”.

After Russia's attack on Ukraine, the Perm branch of Memorial published a statement on its website against the war. Currently, the text of the statement has been removed on the advice of lawyers.

In March, Latypov was fined 15 thousand rubles for reposting an anti-war statement under the article on discrediting the armed forces (Article 20.3.3 of the Administrative Code). After which he began to receive threats from the police that the story with his statement on the Memorial website would not end with an administrative case.

• At the end of April, the Ministry of Justice announced the procedure for the forced liquidation of the Perm regional branch of the Memorial society. The official document stated that the Perm “Memorial” is a structural division of the International Society “Memorial” and on this basis should be liquidated. However, according to the head of the department, Latypov, the Perm branch of the organization arose earlier than the international structure, therefore the decision of the Ministry of Justice is illegal.
• In November 2021, the prosecutor's office filed lawsuits with the Moscow City Court for the liquidation of the Memorial Human Rights Center and with the Supreme Court for the liquidation of International Memorial . The reason was numerous violations of the law on “foreign agents” that the organizations allegedly committed. On December 28, the Supreme Court liquidated the Memorial International Society, and on December 29, the Moscow City Court made a similar decision regarding the Memorial Human Rights Center.