Court in the Russian capital ordered the closure of the Moscow Helsinki Group, one of Russia’s most prominent and respected human rights organizations, on Wednesday.
Last month, Russia’s Justice Ministry sued to shut down the group, alleging that it violated unspecified “legal requirements” in carrying out its activities, according to statement on the group’s website.
The grounds for the lawsuit were the results of an unscheduled inspection of the Moscow prosecutor’s office, which took place in November, writes RBC Business Daily. reported.
According to the court, the main violation of the community was that it was active throughout Russia, despite the status of a regional organization, respectively RBC business daily.
The Moscow Helsinki Group was founded in 1976 by a group of Russian dissidents led by Soviet physicist Yuri Orlov and named after the landmark 1975 Helsinki Accords on human rights.
The organization became one of the main mechanisms of civil society for exposing human rights violations in the Soviet Union, and later in Russia.
The activities of the Moscow Helsinki Group included sending legislative initiatives to the State Duma with requests for the transfer of persons in pretrial detention centers to house arrest, amnesty for prisoners, and calls for the state to protect journalists.
Last year also the Russian court is supported order to dissolve another well-known human rights group, “Memorial”, which was later awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
