JRL NEWSWATCH: “Court shuts down another human rights group in Russia” – AP
“… [A]mid a sweeping crackdown on Russian rights groups, independent media and opposition supporters[,] [t]he Moscow City Court’s decision to shut down the Memorial Human Rights Center came a day after Russia’s Supreme Court revoked the legal status of its sister organization, Memorial, … that drew international acclaim for its studies of [Soviet] political repression …. Russian authorities previously declared both … ‘foreign agents’ — a designation that brings additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. … Memorial and the Memorial Human Rights Center rejected the accusations as politically motivated. …”