Memorial was co-winner of 2022 Peace Prize for its work in documenting human rights abuses in Russia.
Published On 8 Apr 2026
The committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize has condemned makes an attempt by Moscow to designate the human rights group and Peace Prize laureate Memorial as an “extremist organisation”.
The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, stated in an announcement on Wednesday that it was “deeply alarmed by the Russian authorities’ latest attempts to destroy Memorial – a co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize – by seeking to designate [it] as an extremist organisation”.
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The assertion was issued as Russia’s Supreme Court is anticipated to study a petition from the Ministry of Justice on Thursday to add Memorial to Russia’s record of “undesirable” entities.
The designation would ban the organisation from working in Russia, with these affiliated with it might face up to 4 years in jail and fines.
Memorial has already been declared a “foreign agent”, and the Supreme Court ordered it dissolved in Russia on the finish of 2021.
Frydnes harassed that if the newest petition by the Justice Ministry is upheld, “all activities of Memorial will be criminalised. Anyone taking part in, or funding, Memorial’s work – or even sharing its published materials – will risk imprisonment.”
“To designate such an organisation as extremist is an affront to the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom of expression,” he added.
The committee referred to as “on the Russian authorities to immediately withdraw this claim and to cease all harassment of Memorial and its members”.
Memorial gained the Nobel Peace Prize with the Ukrainian human rights organisation Centre for Civil Liberties and Ales Bialiatski, who has labored to promote democracy and human rights in Belarus. Memorial, established in 1987, focuses on documenting human rights abuses in Russia.
Before it was banned in Russia, Memorial fashioned a community of about 50 organisations throughout Russia and out of doors its borders. Some of its constituents based mostly in Germany, France and Italy proceed to function.
Several Russian Memorial leaders have been subjected to felony proceedings – together with Oleg Orlov, who was freed in a prisoner trade in 2024 after being imprisoned for talking out in opposition to the Ukraine warfare – at the moment are working outdoors Russia to proceed documenting human rights abuses.
