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Journalists follow the hearing in Moscow via live stream
Photo: EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA / REUTERS
A Moscow court on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the Memorial human rights center.
The verdict came a day after the Russian Supreme Court had already banned the umbrella organization Memorial International.
The Human Rights Center Memorial has so far campaigned for the rights of political prisoners in Russia as well as of minorities such as migrants and homosexuals.
Jan Ratschinski from the Memorial management announced that he would also proceed against the judgment before the European Court of Human Rights.
You now have 30 days for this.
The public prosecutor had accused the human rights center Memorial of having "actively" supported extremist organizations and of having "violated human rights and freedoms" themselves.
This justifies the dissolution of the organization.
A representative from Memorial's legal team told AFP before the hearing began that the team was expecting the human rights center to be convicted and subsequently banned.
This is "obvious".
The Memorial Human Rights Center focuses on the rights of political prisoners in Russia and of minorities such as migrants and homosexuals. Every year the center publishes a list of political prisoners. Most recently, the center repeatedly referred to the fate of the imprisoned opposition politician Alexej Navalny, whose organizations in Russia are classified as "extremist".
On Tuesday, Russia's highest court ordered the dissolution of the international human rights organization and, without giving any reason, granted an application by the General Prosecutor's Office for violating Russian law.
Memorial had already been fined several times for not designating itself as a foreign agent.
The corresponding controversial law provides that recipients of payments from abroad can be identified as "agents".
International criticism after the human rights organization was banned
The verdict caused international horror.
From the Foreign Office in Berlin it was said that the decision “contradicts international obligations to protect basic civil rights, which Russia has also entered into”.
Criticism came from the US and the EU.
The crackdown on Memorial is by far the worst blow to the Russian human rights movement.
The organization has made a name for itself internationally for more than 30 years by coming to terms with the communist tyranny in the Soviet Union.
She also works for political prisoners.
Memorial wants to take legal action against the dissolution.
The prosecution accused the Memorial Human Rights Center in the separate proceedings, among other things, of lack of transparency in finances.
The organization denied the allegations and complained about political persecution.
In front of the courthouse, many people demonstrated against the verdict.
svs / AFP / dpa
