April 9 (UPI) -- Russia's Supreme Court ruled to allow human rights group Memorial, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, to be labeled as an "extremist organization."
The court's Thursday ruling, which followed closed-door hearings, is immediately enforceable, allowing authorities to prosecute anyone who works for, volunteers with or shares materials published by Memorial.
"The court hereby rules that the legal claims on recognizing the Memorial International Public Movement as an extremist organization should be satisfied and its activities on Russian soil should be banned," the court said in a statement reviewed by Russia's state-run news agency TASS.
Memorial was founded in Moscow in 1992, and has been dedicated to documenting human rights violations in the Soviet Union, particularly under the tenure of Josef Stalin. The group was listed as a foreign agent organization in 2016, and in December 2021, it was ordered closed by the Moscow City Court for purported violations of rules governing foreign agents.
Oleg Orlov, chairman of Memorial, was jailed for 30 months in February 2024 after accusing Russia of "mass murder" in Ukraine and writing that his country was once again a "totalitarian" state.
