Memorial Executive Director Elena Zhemkova said that she signed a letter in support of banker Petr Aven, who is trying to challenge EU sanctions in court. In a Facebook post, Zhemkova explained that she did this in her personal capacity, presenting her opinion as the opinion of the organization.
The executive director of Memorial writes that Aven's lawyer approached her. In a letter in support of the banker, Zhemkova spoke about his assistance to the «Last address» — «not only financial, but also organizational».
For the oligarchs and the court. What do we know about the letters of Russian public figures with a request to lift sanctions against Alfa Group bankers
“In my opinion, this help deserves mention and gratitude. <…> As for the sanctions against Pyotr Aven, the «Memorial» never discussed the common position on this issue. It was my mistake: I did not indicate this, expressing only my personal opinion, which I did not agree with my colleagues, ”Zhemkova wrote on Facebook.
In May 2022, Petr Aven and his partner in Alfa Group, Mikhail Fridman, challenged the sanctions in the European Court of Justice. On March 8, Alexei Venediktov, former editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy, published a letter addressed to Ursule von der Leyenand Josep Borrell with a request to remove sanctions from both bankers. It was signed by Alexei Navalny's associate Leonid Volkov and eight other people.
Journalist Sergei Parkhomenko on March 9, on the morning broadcast of the Breakfast Show, confirmed that he really signed the text with such wording. According to him, separate letters in support of «one specific person” were written by Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov, convicted politician Ilya Yashin and Memorial.
Politician Leonid Volkov also called the signing of a letter asking to lift sanctions against Fridman «a big political mistake.»