Russia declares Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial ‘extremist’

Photo: EPA/SERGEI ILNITSKY

Russia's Supreme Court applied an “extremist” designation to the Nobel Prize-winning human rights group Memorial on Thursday, making any cooperation with the organisation punishable by imprisonment.

The specific entity named in the case, the “Memorial International Public Movement”, does not formally exist. Russian authorities previously dissolved Memorial’s legal entities in the country, Memorial International and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, in early 2022.

In February 2026, the Justice Ministry declared the international Memorial Human Rights Centre an “undesirable” organisation, making cooperation with the organisation punishable by a fine for a first offence and by imprisonment for further offences.

The “extremism” hearing was held behind closed doors, according to human rights group Slovo Zashchite.

Following the ruling, the organisation plans to announce the suspension of its activities in Russia.

The request to designate Memorial an “extremist” organisation was filed on March 27 by the Russian Justice Ministry. As the independent media outlet Mediazona noted, Memorial has dozens of regional projects, but none carry the phrase “international public movement” in their name. According to journalists attending the hearing, the ban will apply not only to the movement itself but also its regional branches.

Before the decision was announced, the Nobel Prize Committee in Norway called on the Russian authorities to drop the case. It also appealed to international actors to speak out and take measures to protect people inside the country whom the designation would put at risk of prosecution.

Memorial itself said it had not been notified of the proceedings and learned of them only through press reports.

“The case is classified top secret — we have not seen the lawsuit and most likely never will. We may learn of the ruling through future criminal cases, but given the classification, there is a high chance we will not be shown anything,” said Natalia Sekretareva, head of the legal division at the Memorial Human Rights Centre.

She added that following the ruling, the organisation plans to announce the suspension of its activities in Russia.

Memorial was originally founded in 1987 to document Soviet-era human rights violations. In 2022, the organisation was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its “outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power,” despite the fact that the Russian authorities had ordered its liquidation earlier that year.

In the years since its dissolution in Russia, Memorial has continued operating through its international branches.

In February 2024, Memorial co-founder Oleg Orlov was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for "discrediting the Russian military." He was later released in the August 2024 prisoner exchange between Russia and several Western countries.