The last few years have not been easy for the Russian NGO Memorial. the latest explosion has received blame to the vice president this tuesday, Oleg Orlovabout “discredit the army”, a charge for which he could face up to three prison terms years in jail. Specifically, he is accused of a post on Facebook in 2022 in which he shared his own article titled “They wanted fascism” translated into a French medium. They succeeded”.
On the same day, members of the security forces Russia registered addresses of the members of the organization, police investigation claiming that these were intended to “correct Nazism”, up to five years in prison according to Russian law. According to Memorial itself, Russian police showed up on at least eight occasions. member addresses from the organisation, a relative and two former offices.
Memorial’s story is not unique. authorities in 2008. they confiscated your digital file. Eight years later, in 2016, it was declared by the Russian government “foreign agent”. 2021 was their worst year since seeing each other have to close and get lost like legal entity registered with the Russian Government by order of the same authorities. In 2022, they were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Belarusian rival Ales Bialiatski and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties. On the same day, the good news for Memorial was announced by the Russian police on 7 October. they registered their offices. Such measures have been undermined by both NGOs and independent media. Many, especially those who had already received the “” label, had to leave the country.“foreign agent”, “unwanted organization” or “extremist organization”“, all with obvious negative connotations beyond the legal implications they entail.
Stalin’s crimes and legacy
He worked for the organization for years. human rightsespecially in the restoration of honor Victims of the Stalinist repression 50’s and remember them. In addition to exposing the taboo on the crimes of Stalinism, they also brought up human rights violations. post-Soviet Russia and as other countries that were part of the USSR Kazakhstan and Ukraine. While the legacy of Iosif Djugashvili – Stalin – at the head of the USSR is somewhat difficult to manage, Vladimir Putin tends to favor government. do not openly condemn and let him be glorified, as his supporters honored him on dates set with the express approval of the Russian authorities, as evidenced by the Georgian bust in the middle of Red Square.
Memorial was born in 1989, in the climate of opening up to the world that emerged during the perestroika period. Survived in Putin’s Russia 21 yearsWithout further forgetting the related work that its members continued to work with despite the difficulties of remembering all those who suffered retaliation from the Great Terror of the Soviet era, such as those who were purged, mass deported, or sent to the gulag. contexts. Chechen wars from the 90’s.