The Sakharov Center was liquidated by the court on the suit of the Ministry of Justice
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The Moscow City Court satisfied the claim of the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, liquidating the Sakharov Center – one of the oldest public organizations in the country, created in 1990 with the participation of the wife of academician and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov. The Ministry of Justice found “systematic and irremediable violations”, referring to them the publication of materials without a plate of a foreign agent and activities in several regions where the center has no branches. Earlier, the Moscow Helsinki Group and the Sova information and analytical center were liquidated on similar grounds. A counterclaim was filed at the Sakharov Center, but the proceedings were lost, and the current decision was characterized as a “death sentence”, although they intend to appeal it.
The lawsuit against the Sakharov Center was filed by the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation in July 2023 after an unscheduled inspection at the request of State Duma deputy Andrei Lugovoy. During the court session, representatives of the department said that the checks revealed “systematic, gross and irreparable violations of the law.” The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation referred to them the publication of materials on the organization’s website without marking a foreign agent (for this the center and its leadership were fined a total of about 5 million rubles), as well as activities in subjects where the Sakharov Center has no branches. As an example of violations, the participation of the organization in the All-Russian exhibition dedicated to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Academician Sakharov was mentioned. This event was held in several regions, while the organization itself is registered in Moscow. In total, the Ministry of Justice counted nine such events, including in Tver, Yoshkar-Ola and Ryazan. “The organization made no attempts to eliminate violations,” a representative of the department assured the court.
The Sakharov Center (officially called the Public Commission for the Preservation of Academician Sakharov’s Legacy) was established in 1990 on the initiative of the scientist’s wife, Elena Bonner. In the apartment of Academician Andrei Sakharov on Zemlyanoy Val, equipped as a museum, his archives were kept, and exhibitions, conferences and public discussions were held in the center. Foreign politicians, human rights activists, journalists and poets spoke there. The Russians said goodbye to Boris Nemtsov, Sergei Kovalev and Valeria Novodvorskaya. In 2014, the center was recognized as a foreign agent.
Representatives of the Sakharov Center in the Moscow City Court insisted that they did not violate the law. Thus, lawyer Marina Koltsova stated that earlier the Ministry of Justice had checked the center three times and had not filed any claims in connection with events outside the capital. Moreover, in July 2023, the Sakharov Center filed its own lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice, challenging the requirement to liquidate the organization as illegal and disproportionate to the identified violations.
In the course of this process in the Gagarinsky Court of Moscow, lawyers argued that the Sakharov Center only provided materials for the exhibition on the 100th anniversary of the academician, and local authorities were involved in its organization. “There was an order from the President (Vladimir Putin.— “b”) about the celebration of this date. The plan also included regional exhibitions. To consider this activity as violating the law is to review the decision of the president and the Ministry of Culture, ”explained Vyacheslav Bakhmin, head of the board of the Sakharov Center. However, the court rejected the lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice in July 2023.
Moscow City Court judge Vyacheslav Polyga satisfied the requirements of the Ministry of Justice, specifying that after his decision, the Sakharov Center would be excluded from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. “We will appeal the decision,” Mikhail Biryukov, a lawyer representing the interests of the Sakharov Center, promised Kommersant.
Recall, according to the suit of the Ministry of Justice, the Moscow City Court was in January 2023 liquidated The oldest human rights organization in Russia is the Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG, which has been operating since 1976). The lawsuit was also based on the activities of the MHG outside Moscow. Officials insisted that the group should not take part in conferences in other regions of the country. In April 2023, on the same basis, the Moscow City Court satisfied the claim for the liquidation of the Sova information and analytical center.
After the meeting of the Moscow City Court, representatives of the center said that “the decision to liquidate would mean a death sentence.”
“The Sakharov Center had a huge cultural and educational mission,” Mikhail Biryukov told Kommersant. “The work was connected with the organization of exhibitions throughout Russia, lectures, charity evenings, and meetings. Naturally, the liquidation of a legal entity paralyzes this line of work and deprives the organization of the opportunity to realize the goals and objectives for which it was created.
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