Current:Home > NewsRussians commemorate victims of Soviet repression as a present-day crackdown on dissent intensifies-InfoLens
Russians commemorate victims of Soviet repression as a present-day crackdown on dissent intensifies
View Date:2024-12-23 19:40:32
LONDON (AP) — Russians commemorated the victims of Soviet state terror on Sunday, while the Russian government continues its crackdown on dissent in the country.
The “Returning of the Names” event was organized by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning human rights group Memorial.
The commemoration has traditionally been held in Moscow on Oct. 29 — the eve of Russia’s Remembrance Day for the Victims of Political Repression — at the Solovetsky Stone memorial to victims of Soviet-era repression, and centers on the reading out of names of individuals killed during Joseph Stalin’s Great Terror of the late 1930s.
Since 2020, Moscow authorities have refused to grant a permit for the demonstration. This is allegedly owing to the “epidemiological situation” and a ban on holding public events, though supporters of Memorial believe the refusal is politically motivated.
Memorial itself was ordered to close by the Moscow authorities in November 2021. Although it was shut down as a legal entity in Russia, the group still operates in other countries and has continued some of its human rights activities in Russia.
Instead of a demonstration, on Sunday Muscovites and several Western ambassadors laid flowers at the Solovetsky Stone. The subdued event took place under the watchful eyes of police.
Memorial also organized a live broadcast of the reading of the victims’ names, from Moscow and other Russian cities, as well as from abroad.
The “Returning of the Names” event comes as Russian prosecutors seek a three-year prison sentence for human rights campaigner and Memorial co-chair Oleg Orlov.
Orlov was fined around $1,500 earlier this month and convicted of publicly “discrediting” the Russian military after a Facebook post in which he denounced the invasion of Ukraine, the latest step in a relentless crackdown on activists, independent journalists and opposition figures.
Memorial said on Friday that state prosecutors had appealed the sentence, calling it “excessively lenient.”
“It’s obvious that Orlov needs isolation from society for his correction,” Memorial quoted the prosecutor as saying.
A law adopted shortly after the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine made such public “discrediting” a criminal offense if committed repeatedly within a year. Orlov has been fined twice for antiwar protests before facing criminal charges.
Memorial, one of the oldest and the most renowned Russian rights organizations, was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize along with imprisoned Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski and the Center for Civil Liberties, a Ukrainian organization.
Memorial was founded in the Soviet Union in 1987 to ensure that victims of Communist Party repression would be remembered. It has continued to compile information on human rights abuses and track the fate of political prisoners in Russia while facing a Kremlin crackdown in recent years.
The group had been declared a “foreign agent,” a designation that brings additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. Over the years, Memorial was ordered to pay massive fines for alleged violations of the ”foreign agent” law.
Russia’s Supreme Court ordered it shut down in December 2021, a move that sparked an outcry at home and abroad.
Memorial and its supporters have called the trial against Orlov politically motivated. His defense team included Dmitry Muratov, editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021.
veryGood! (54569)
Related
- Oregon's Dan Lanning, Indiana's Curt Cignetti pocket big bonuses after Week 11 wins
- Killing of an airman by Florida deputy is among cases of Black people being shot in their homes
- Indiana-Atlanta highlights: How Caitlin Clark, Fever performed in second preseason game
- Eurovision 2024: Grand Final set as Israeli contestant advances in second set of 10
- Martin Scorsese on faith in filmmaking, ‘The Saints’ and what his next movie might be
- Bob Ross’ legacy lives on in new ‘The Joy of Painting’ series
- Young Sheldon Kills Off Beloved Cast Member During Final Season
- A cyberattack on a big US health system diverts ambulances and takes records offline
- Kate Spade Outlet’s Early Black Friday Sale – Get a $259 Bag for $59 & More Epic Deals Starting at $25
- Ariana Madix Teases Life After Vanderpump Rules
Ranking
- Joey Graziadei Details Why Kelsey Anderson Took a Break From Social Media
- As Extreme Weather Batters Schools, Students Are Pushing For More Climate Change Education
- Beach Boys' Brian Wilson to be placed in conservatorship, judge rules
- Post Malone, Morgan Wallen's awaited collab 'I Had Some Help' is out. Is a country album next?
- Voyager 2 is the only craft to visit Uranus. Its findings may have misled us for 40 years.
- Is decaf coffee bad for you? What to know about calls to ban a chemical found in decaf.
- Young Sheldon Kills Off Beloved Cast Member During Final Season
- Think spaving — or spending to save — can save you money? Think again.
Recommendation
-
Vegas Sphere reports revenue decline despite hosting UFC 306, Eagles residency
-
Illinois basketball star Terrence Shannon Jr. ordered to stand trial on a rape charge in Kansas
-
Harvey Weinstein will not be extradited to California for rape sentencing: Reports
-
Kentucky prosecutor accused of trading favors for meth and sex pleads guilty to federal charge
-
Nicole Kidman Reveals the Surprising Reason for Starring in NSFW Movie Babygirl
-
Is decaf coffee bad for you? What to know about calls to ban a chemical found in decaf.
-
Cornell University president Martha Pollack resigns. She's the 3rd Ivy League college president to step down since December.
-
Has Bud Light survived the boycott? Year after influencer backlash, positive signs emerge