A Moscow court on Thursday ordered the dissolution of a renowned research center specializing in the study of racism and xenophobia in Russia, in the midst of a crackdown on the last critical voices since the offensive in Ukraine.
Founded in 2002, the Sova Center said in a statement that it was dissolved by decision of a judge of the Moscow City Court who approved a request to that effect from the Ministry of Justice.
To discover
Follow information on the war in Ukraine with the Figaro application
Officially, the center was banned for participating in events outside of Moscow, the city where it is administratively registered, which was considered a violation.
In its statement, the Sova Center said it argued during the hearing that this did not constitute misconduct and that disbanding the organization was an excessive measure, to no avail.
He said he will appeal.
This research center is renowned for its reports on nationalism, racism, xenophobia, the links between religion and society, as well as the application of laws against “
extremism
”.
Sensitive subjects in Russia.
Previous dissolution
This is the second time that the authorities have recently used this reason to dissolve an association with critical opinions.
In January, for the same reason, the same court ordered the dissolution of the Moscow Helsinki Group, the oldest human rights NGO in Russia.
Read alsoUkraine: could Russia be guilty of war crimes against the environment?
In parallel with its offensive in Ukraine, the Russian government is using an increasingly flexible legislative arsenal to punish or ban any personality or association deemed hostile to the Kremlin.
In addition to the Sova Center and the Moscow Helsinki Group, the authorities recently drove the Sakharov Center, lung of the liberal intelligentsia, from its premises, after a reinforcement of the measures against the “foreign agents” to which it was
subjected
.
Previously, at the end of 2021, Russian justice also dissolved Memorial, a pillar of the fight for human rights and the memory of the victims of Soviet repressions, while the Kremlin seeks to promote a positive image of the USSR.