Krasnodar activist holds a solo picket in support of “Memorial”*

Today, Yana Antonova has come to the central square of Krasnodar. In her hands, the activist was holding a poster reading: “Hands off Memorial”.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that after an unscheduled inspection carried out in March 2013, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office requested the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”* to register as a foreign agent. The NGO considered mistaken the conclusions of the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office, which saw a political nature in the NGO’s activities. The human rights defenders unsuccessfully tried to challenge the prosecutors’ claim in court. On October 4, 2016, the Russian Ministry of Justice included the International Historical, Educational, Charitable, and Human Rights Society “Memorial”* (“International Memorial”*) in the register of foreign agents. On November 11, 2021, the “International Memorial”* received a notification from the Supreme Court (SC) of Russia about the consideration of the claim filed by the General Prosecutor’s Office to liquidate the NGO for absence of an appropriate marking of the NGO’s materials as those of a foreign agent. The human rights defenders considered the claim filed by the General Prosecutor’s Office a political decision.

Today, Krasnodar activist Yana Antonova has held a solo picket in the centre of Krasnodar near the monument to St. Catherine. In her hands, the activist was holding the poster reading: “Hands off Memorial”*. This was reported to the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent by the activist herself.

“The ‘Memorial’ keeps the memory of our people about the repressions they endured in the twentieth century. To destroy the ‘Memorial’ means to encroach on the memory of millions of repressed people, including my relatives,” Yana Antonova stated.

* The organization is included by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Russia in the register of NCOs performing the functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 12, 2021 at 04:57 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.