After the closing of Memorial [see https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2021/12/29/russias-supreme-court-orders-closure-emblematic-memorial/], Deutsche Welle reported on 18 August 2023 that it was now the turn of the Sakharov Centre, the organization, dedicated to Nobel Peace Prize winning rights activist Andrei Sakharov [https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/B3C93212-FADC-4C30-B82A-3E5F2716F1D6] which was accused of illegally hosting conferences and exhibitions. It was created in Moscow almost three decades ago.

The closure of the human rights group is seen as part of the Kremlin’s campaign to crack down on liberal-leaning organizations that challenge official narratives, including those about Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.

Moscow City Court said in a statement that it had decided to liquidate the Sakharov Center at the request of the Justice Ministry for illegally hosting conferences and exhibitions.

Since its creation in 1996, the group has hosted hundreds of debates, exhibitions and other events. In 2015, thousands of people gathered there to pay their last respects to opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered near the Kremlin walls.

Authorities declared the group a “foreign agent” in 2014 and this year ordered the eviction of the center from its premises.=

On Thursday, authorities charged Grigory Melkonyants, the leader of Golos, a prominent independent election monitoring group, with being involved with an “undesirable” organization. He faces up to six years in prison.

In January, a court also ordered the closure of Russia’s oldest human rights organisation, the Moscow Helsinki Group.

Another rights group, Memorial, which established itself as a key pillar in civil society, was disbanded by Russian authorities in late 2021, just months before Putin sent troops to Ukraine.

https://www.dw.com/en/russia-closes-human-rights-group-sakharov-center/a-66572098

This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.