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CE Secretary-General concerned by plans to liquidate Memorial in Russia

Marija Pejcinovic Buric urged the Prosecutor-General’s Office "to reconsider this move" and expressed the readiness "to assist the Russian authorities in reviewing the ‘Foreign Agents law’ in line with the European Convention on Human Right

PARIS, November 12. /TASS/. The Secretary-General of the Council of the Council of Europe (CE), Marija Pejcinovic Buric has expressed concern over the Russian Prosecutor-General’s lawsuit, filed at the Supreme Court, demanding the liquidation of the human rights center Memorial (recognized as a foreign agent NGO in Russia) for violating the foreign agents legislation. Her statement was uploaded to the CE’s website on Friday.

"The news that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office seeks to liquidate International Memorial, one of Russia’s oldest and most reputable human rights organizations, on the basis of the so-called ‘Foreign Agents’ law is very regrettable," Pejcinovic Buric said. "Unfortunately, the Russian Federation has not acted upon the Council of Europe’s repeated calls to repeal the Foreign Agents legislation. The liquidation of International Memorial would deal a further devastating blow to civil society, which is an essential pillar of any democracy."

She urged the Prosecutor-General’s Office "to reconsider this move" and expressed the readiness "to assist the Russian authorities in reviewing the ‘Foreign Agents law’ in line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Memorial says that it has never breached the foreign agents law.

International Memorial was listed as a foreign agent in 2016. For several years Russian courts have repeatedly fined the organization for violating the foreign agents law.