Judge of the Moscow City Court Mikhail Kazakov decided to liquidate the oldest Russian human rights organization Moscow Helsinki Group. This is reported by the correspondent of «Mediazona» from the courtroom.
This was done at the request of the Ministry of Justice. The formal reason for the lawsuit after the unscheduled inspection was that MHG members participated in events “outside their region” — Moscow. For example, they carried out observations in courts and wrote an appeal to the reception of the governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov.
The Ministry of Justice also claims that the MHG charter of 2018 contained “inconsistencies with the law”, and the MHG management bodies violated the deadline for holding meetings — Twice a year. “We insist on liquidation, since the organization must be punished accordingly,” a spokeswoman for the ministry said in court.
The Moscow Helsinki Group filed a counterclaim and asked that the demands of the Moscow prosecutor's office for an unscheduled inspection and a similar decision of the Ministry of Justice on the need for an inspection be recognized as illegal. The departments did not explain its necessity, despite the restrictions on unscheduled inspections in 2022.
“You are committing a great sin. You are destroying the human rights movement, you are destroying it! The liquidation of the MHG is a serious blow to the human rights movement not only in Russia, but also in the world,” said Valery Borshchev, a Soviet dissident and co-chairman of the organization, in court. “The ease with which you decide our fate amazes me. How can it be so easy to destroy what was built for decades.
The lawsuit was considered in one meeting. Only three journalists were allowed into the hall, the rest of the seats for the audience were occupied by court trainees from the Moscow State Law Academy. -cite__image» alt=»1″ />Liquidation of the Moscow Helsinki Group. Online