They won’t even leave a memory of Memorial on Karetny Ryad

The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow turned into state revenue a building in the center of Moscow, owned by the research and educational center (NIPTs) “Memorial”. In its lawsuit, the Prosecutor General’s Office demanded that the transfer of the NIPTs as a donation of real estate in Karetny Ryad from the International Memorial (liquidated by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation) be fictitious. The defendants claimed that they transferred the premises according to the charter, and the NIPTs had been operating in the premises since the mid-1990s. Before the start of the proceedings, it became known that Memorial had been awarded the Nobel Prize, and the participants in the trial asked themselves: did Judge Dmitry Ivanov know about this?

The subject of the proceedings was a room with an area of ​​1018 sq. m in Karetny Ryad in Moscow. In 2005, International Memorial purchased real estate with funds received from Russian and foreign organizations and individuals. The suit of the Prosecutor General’s Office explained that in February 2022, against the backdrop of the process of liquidation of the company, “under the guise of a donation”, the premises were transferred to the NIPTs “Memorial”. “The audit established that the donation was fictitious,” the supervisory authority claimed, stating that the property was transferred to a “non-functioning organization,” and the transfer “does not pursue a socially useful goal” (contrary to Article 582 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on donations). The plaintiff demanded that the premises be turned into state revenue.

In 2016, International Memorial was recognized as a foreign agent, and in December 2021 it was liquidated by decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. In “Memorial” the demand for the liquidation of NPOs was associated with the publication of “execution” archives and data on the involvement of KGB officers in terror. In the Prosecutor General’s Office, the reason was called “a demonstration of persistent disregard” for the legislation on foreign agents and “the creation of a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state.”

The lawsuit filed by the supervisory authority alleges that during the liquidation of the NPO, its property was hidden “for illegal activities.”

Memorial International called the prosecutors’ lawsuit “intimidation” and “a mockery of the law”, explaining that the NGO had no creditors, and the premises were donated in accordance with the society’s statutory goals.

In the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow, Judge Dmitry Ivanov refused to grant Memorial’s motion to transfer the case as an economic dispute to arbitration. A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office insisted in his speech that Memorial had “many times” committed “illegal acts.” The society’s lawyers asked not to confuse illegal activities with the liquidation of the “International Memorial” for administrative reasons as a foreign agent. The plaintiff’s representative reacted to this by finding violations of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in the activities of the company. He made it clear that this is “disinformation of citizens about the status of a foreign agent.” Finally, the representative of the prosecutor’s office said, the premises were handed over “for appearances”, and since the “International Memorial” committed “illegal actions”, the NIPTs can do the same. At the request of the lawyers of the NIPTs to present arguments in favor of such an argument, the prosecutor said: “As long as these are just circumstances, arguments are not needed.”

Note that Art. 20 of the Law of the Russian Federation “On Non-Commercial Organizations” states that creditors can first claim the property of a liquidated organization; after satisfying their requirements, it can be directed to the goals defined in the charter of the NPO.

Only if the use for statutory purposes is impossible, it turns into state revenue. Stanislav Danilov, a partner at the Pen & Paper Bar Association, previously explained to Kommersant that there is no justification in the suit of the Prosecutor General’s Office why property cannot be used for statutory purposes.

Marina Agaltsova, lawyer for International Memorial, confirmed in court that the society could dispose of property for “publicly useful purposes”, while the NIPTs was not a fictitious organization, but existed since the 1990s, published about 50 books and was the “brain” of the International Memorial” in archival work. “Memorial’s activities are dealing with the difficult past of our country,” she added. However, judge Dmitry Ivanov nevertheless decided to recognize the deal on the transfer of premises in Karetny Ryad as imaginary.

It is noteworthy that before the start of the court session became known awarding Memorial the Nobel Peace Prize. Judge Dmitry Ivanov during the process more than once retired to the deliberation room, which gave rise to jokes among the participants in the meeting that he was preparing congratulations for Memorial. At the same time, Memorial’s Telegram channel claims that right during the trial, French President Emmanuel Macron sent congratulations to the society on the award of the prize. However, Marina Agaltsova suggested in an interview with Kommersant that Judge Dmitry Ivanov may not have known about the award at all, “because we didn’t say that during the process.” Mrs. Agaltsova called the position of the Prosecutor General’s Office “crazy”, saying that she would appeal the decision of the Tverskoy Court in the Moscow City Court.

Alexander Voronov