The Russian court ordered the confiscation of the headquarters of the Memorial organization, which won the Nobel Peace Prize, in favor of the state – Topky.sk

The British station BBC added that the court decided on the basis of a request submitted by the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office. The decision concerns the office of the organization on Karetny riad street in the center of Moscow. The prosecutor’s office claims in its filing that the transfer of these premises from the non-profit Memorial organization to the Memorial Research and Education Center is illegal. Photo gallery (2) Human rights organization Memorial
Source: SITA/AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov However, legal representatives of the human rights non-profit organization do not agree with this interpretation. Attorney Nataľja Petrovová pointed out after the court session that “the state can claim this property only if the non-profit organization itself cannot dispose of it in accordance with its charter.” However, she pointed out that the statutory goals of the research center are “close to the goals of the now-liquidated International Memorial organization, so it should have been able to donate the building on Karetny riad Street to the research institute.” Memorial, Russia’s best-known human rights organization, was officially dissolved by the authorities last December. Since its inception in 1989, the Memorial has been documenting the crimes of Stalinism and creating a large archive. Exhibitions open to the public were also regularly held at his headquarters in Moscow. Russian authorities have in the past portrayed Memorial as an organization smearing the country’s past. Also on Friday, the representative of the General Prosecutor’s Office in court accused Memorial of “rehabilitating Nazi criminals, discrediting the authorities and creating a false image of the USSR”.