Academicians and artists oppose liquidation of “Memorial”*

According to a petition signed by 65 members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the activities of the “Memorial”* to preserve the memory of victims of repression is superior to the results of public research institutions and the liquidation of the “Memorial”* cannot be allowed. A similar petition was signed by over 100 artists, politicians, and human rights defenders.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on November 8, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office filed a claim to the Moscow City Court to liquidate the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”*, considering that the NGO justified extremism and terrorism. The human rights defenders called those claims absurd. The social media launched a campaign under the hashtag #WeAreMemorial, and an electronic petition in support of the NGOs was posted on November 12. Within just two days, the petition has been signed by more than 11,000 people.

Members and professors of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) pointed out that since the era of perestroika, the “Memorial”* has been “engaged in a large-scale educational activity, not allowing forgetting about the millions of innocent repressed, perished, and executed people.”

In different cities of Southern Russia, activists held pickets in support of both NGOs. Participants of the pickets in Astrakhan associated the attempts to liquidate the “International Memorial”* and the HRC “Memorial”* with their human rights activities and work to preserve the memory of the repressions.

* The organization is included by the Russian MoJ into the register of non-commercial organizations (NCOs) performing the functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 15, 2021 at 06:47 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.