FSB opened a criminal case against Perm human rights activists from “Memorial”

The Investigative Department of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Perm Territory opened a criminal case against the former head of the Perm branch of the Memorial society (recognized in Russia as a foreign agent and liquidated by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation) Robert Latypov and the chairman of the regional charitable public organization Center for Historical Memory Alexander Chernyshov . The case was initiated on the grounds of a crime under Part 3 of Art. 30, paragraph “c” part 2 of Art. 226.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (attempted smuggling of cultural property).

According to the investigation, Messrs. Latypov and Chernyshov, acting by prior agreement, tried to smuggle Memorial’s archival documents from Russia to Germany, “representing, according to an expert assessment, cultural and historical value.” The FSB, together with the regional commander-in-chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, is conducting a complex of operational-search activities and investigative actions.

This morning, the FSB of Russia for the Perm Territory conducted searches at the homes of several Perm human rights activists and activists. Among them were members of the Presidential Human Rights Council Tatyana Margolina and Svetlana Makovetskaya, journalist Tatyana Cherepanova, lawyer Oksana Asaulenko and other public figures. The activists themselves assumed that they were searched as witnesses in the above-mentioned criminal case.

Ekaterina Artemova, Perm