the Supreme Court dissolves the Memorial NGO, pillar of civil society

From our correspondent in Moscow, Jean-Didier Revoin

It would have taken a miracle. But it did not happen. The oldest and most respected human rights organization in Russia has been dissolved by the courts. Reason: it did not respect its obligations arising from its status of “foreign agent”, equivalent to the enemy of the people under the USSR.

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This verdict once again illustrates the policy of the authorities who seek to impress, dissuade or silence voices that are too critical of power. The large international echo, the significant movement of support that appeared around the world, will have served no purpose. The Memorial prosecutions are the product of the clash of two visions of Russian history: shedding light on the millions of victims of crimes in the USSR to avoid a return to totalitarianism and the glorification of the power of the Union the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany, minimizing Stalin’s repressions.

This dissolution of Memorial International comes after those of all the organizations founded by the opponent. Alexey Navalny and the classification as “overseas agents” of multiple NGOs, media outlets or even individuals since the start of the year.

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This decision of the Supreme Court marks a bit of a step backwards, according to Françoise Daucé, director of studies at the School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences, specialist in Russia and member of the NGO Memorial France. According to her, “ this decision is disastrous for the association itself, for all of its members, but also for the whole of Russian society today and the possibility of acting and expressing themselves freely. “.