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Memorial was co-winner of 2022 Peace Prize for its work in documenting human rights abuses in Russia.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Published On 8 Apr 2026<\/span>8 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The committee that awards the Nobel Peace Prize has condemned attempts by Moscow to designate the human rights group and Peace Prize laureate Memorial<\/a> as an \u201cextremist organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n The chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, said in a statement on Wednesday that it was \u201cdeeply alarmed by the Russian authorities\u2019 latest attempts to destroy Memorial \u2013 a co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize \u2013 by seeking to designate [it] as an extremist organisation\u201d.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n The statement was issued as Russia\u2019s Supreme Court is expected to examine a petition from the Ministry of Justice on Thursday to add Memorial to Russia\u2019s list of \u201cundesirable\u201d entities.<\/p>\n The designation would ban the organisation from operating in Russia, with those affiliated with it could face up to four years in prison and fines.<\/p>\n Memorial has already been declared a \u201cforeign agent\u201d, and the Supreme Court ordered it dissolved in Russia at the end of 2021.<\/p>\n Frydnes stressed that if the latest petition by the Justice Ministry is upheld, \u201call activities of Memorial will be criminalised. Anyone taking part in, or funding, Memorial\u2019s work \u2013 or even sharing its published materials \u2013 will risk imprisonment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo designate such an organisation as extremist is an affront to the fundamental values of human dignity and freedom of expression,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The committee called \u201con the Russian authorities to immediately withdraw this claim and to cease all harassment of Memorial and its members\u201d.<\/p>\n Memorial won the Nobel Peace Prize with the Ukrainian human rights organisation Centre for Civil Liberties and Ales Bialiatski, who has worked to promote democracy and human rights in Belarus. Memorial, established in 1987, focuses on documenting human rights abuses in Russia.<\/p>\n Before it was banned in Russia, Memorial formed a network of about 50 organisations across Russia and outside its borders. Some of its constituents based in Germany, France and Italy continue to operate.<\/p>\n Several Russian Memorial leaders have been subjected to criminal proceedings \u2013 including Oleg Orlov<\/a>, who was freed in a prisoner exchange in 2024 after being imprisoned for speaking out against the Ukraine war \u2013 are now working outside Russia to continue documenting human rights abuses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n