MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) — The Memorial human rights group is being treated as any other non-governmental organization while the controversy around its activities in Russia is being reviewed by the country's authorities, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
"First of all, the provisions of the Russian legislation are applicable to all civil society organizations without any exceptions, preferences or special treatment over 'merits' and 'achievement lists,'" the ministry said in comments to Western criticism over an alleged "new attack on human rights in Russia".
"Secondly, as far as we are concerned, the fate of the lawsuit and the outcome of its revision by the Supreme Court will depend on Memorial's readiness to correct violations uncovered by the Justice Ministry," the ministry said.
The Russian Ministry of Justice has asked the country's Supreme Court to "liquidate" the Memorial, which received the prestigious Sakharov Prize in 2012, over "numerous violations of the Russian Constitution and legislation on activities of non-governmental organizations".
The European Parliament as well as a number of human rights activists and organizations criticized the move as "another attack on civil society by Russian authorities".
Founded in 1989 under the auspices of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov, Memorial has led a campaign focused on monitoring human rights in Russia and other post-Soviet countries.
In 2012 Russia's Ministry of Justice launched a regular check of the group's documentation and its accordance with the group's activities. It was found out that Memorial was not operating to reach the declared objectives, which violates the Russian laws. Memorial group was advised to correct the violations twice; however, the corresponding steps have not been taken.
