Russian security forces raid homes of former Memorial employees

Russian security forces have raided the homes of multiple former employees of the Nobel Prize-winning Memorial human rights group and may summon them for interrogation, the group said on Tuesday. The raids were carried out after investigators accused the now banned group of allegedly including the names of World War Two-era Nazi collaborators on their historical list of victims of political terror. Memorial was not immediately available to comment.

Russian security forces have raided the homes of multiple former employees of the Nobel Prize-winning Memorial human rights group and may summon them for interrogation, the group said on Tuesday. The raids were carried out after investigators accused the now banned group of allegedly including the names of World War Two-era Nazi collaborators on their historical list of victims of political terror.

Memorial was not immediately available to comment. Police confiscated items and equipment carrying the Memorial logo, the group said, and have taken some of the employees for interrogation.

"At present searches of some of the employees are continuing - lawyers are not allowed to see them," Memorial wrote on Telegram. The Memorial Human Rights Centre and its sister Memorial International were founded to promote human rights and document political repression in the Soviet Union.

Both organisations are banned in Russia and were officially dissolved there in late 2021 as part of a decades-long campaign by the authorities to crack down on political dissent.

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