Russia's justice ministry has filed a case to disband leading human rights group Memorial, the organisation's president told AFP on Friday. The Supreme Court in Moscow said in a statement it will hear the case on Monday but gave no other details on its website. Alexander Cherkasov, who heads Memorial, said Russian authorities had questioned the organisational structure of the group.
"All the accusations are absurd," Cherkasov said. Memorial, which chronicles the victims of Stalin-era repression in its world-respected archive and also speaks out on contemporary rights issues, has come under increasing pressure from the authorities. Earlier this year it was ordered to register itself as a "foreign agent" under a controversial new law passed last year. The legislation forced NGOs who carry out political activities and receive international funding to register and name themselves as "foreign agents" in all their documents. Along with many other NGOs, Memorial opposed the demand to register as a "foreign agent", a term that carries connotations of treachery and espionage.
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