The Norwegian Nobel Committee condemned the searches at the home of the chairman of the board of directors of the human rights society “International Memorial” * Jan Rachinsky and the staff of the center “Memorial” *. On Wednesday, March 22, the AFP agency reports with reference to the statement by the chairman of the committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen.
“The charges against them (Memorial* employees) are baseless and should be dropped,” Reiss-Andersen said.
The EU delegation in Russia also expressed concern about searches of members of the “Memorial”*. They recalled that the human rights center had received the Nobel Peace Prize and called on the Russian authorities to respect the rule of law.
“Nobel Prize-winning Memorial* plays an invaluable and indispensable role in understanding the horrors of 20th century history and overcoming their consequences.” said in a statement published on the EU Delegation’s telegram channel.
Memorial* was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October 2022. The Nobel Committee’s statement listed the Russian organization as one of “outstanding fighters for human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence.”
Memorial Employee Research*
On Tuesday, March 21, the security forces searched the homes of several employees of the human rights association, including Yan Rachinsky, chairman of the board of directors of Memorial international*, Nikita Petrov, vice-president of Memorial* , and Oleg Orlov, member of the board of directors of the center for human rights. Investigative actions also took place in the Moscow office of the organization.
The searches were linked to a criminal case on “rehabilitation from Nazism” against “unidentified employees” of a human rights organization. As reported by Memorial* in reference to the investigator’s decision, the reason for opening the case was the inclusion on the list of victims of political terror of a man sentenced to the camps for having worked in a German police detachment, and two others “for treason by military personnel.”
On the day of the searches, a criminal case was opened against Oleg Orlov for repeated “discrediting” of the Russian army, he was released on bail. The human rights activist said that the reason for opening the case was the publication on social networks of his article on the situation in Ukraine. In addition, the organization reported that Orlov and Rachinsky became witnesses in the case of “rehabilitation from Nazism”.
Memorial* denied “rehabilitation from Nazism” charges against the employees and called the investigative actions “a fabrication of a case out of thin air.”
- entered by the Ministry of Justice of Russia in the register of foreign agents and liquidated by decision of the Supreme Court of Russia
