Russian court to rule on shutting down renowned rights group

By DARIA LITVINOVA
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Supreme Court on Thursday is hearing a petition to shut down one of the country’s oldest and most prominent human rights group, a move that sparked public outrage and is part of a months-long crackdown on dissent. The Prosecutor General’s Office earlier this month petitioned the Supreme Court to revoke the legal status of Memorial — an international human rights group that studies political repressions in the Soviet Union. Memorial was declared a “foreign agent” in 2016 — a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong pejorative connotations. The prosecutors allege that the group repeatedly violated regulations obligating it to mark itself as a “foreign agent.”