Refusal to exclude “Memorial”* from foreign agents register upheld

The Moscow appellate court has rejected the complaint against the court ruling refusing to remove the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”* from the register of foreign agents.

On June 17, the Moscow City Court (MCC) upheld the ruling of the Zamoskvoretsky District Court that refused to remove the HRC “Memorial”* from the register of foreign agents, the “Memorial”* has reported today in its Telegram channel.

Human rights defenders demanded to declare the ruling as illegal, to overturn it, and to remove the HRC from "this discriminatory list," the report has noted.

"In their appeal complaint, the lawyers recalled that the law on "foreign agents" is contrary to the legal certainty principle. It fails to establish the criterion for the mandatory receipt of foreign funding to be declared as a "foreign agent," but replaces it with some broad and vague formulations. Thus, absolutely any foreign citizen can be called a "foreign source," even if it is your spouse, a neighbour on the landing, a student taking Russian lessons from you, or a citizen of Uzbekistan who gave you a ride in a taxi," the HRC “Memorial”* has stated.

It took the judge less than a minute to make a ruling.

The official of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said in court that the first-instance court ruling was justified and legal. "It took the judge less than a minute to announce his ruling," the report said.

This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 18, 2025 at 04:43 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here. 

*On December 29, 2021, by the decision of the Moscow City Court, the Russian legal entities of the "International Memorial" and the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial" were liquidated. Activists of the organizations have reported that both organizations will continue their work without forming legal entities.