{"id":9119,"date":"2014-04-04T01:10:20","date_gmt":"2014-04-03T21:10:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/?p=9119"},"modified":"2014-04-04T01:11:52","modified_gmt":"2014-04-03T21:11:52","slug":"saint-petersburg-city-court-to-consider-appeal-of-adc-memorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/news\/saint-petersburg-city-court-to-consider-appeal-of-adc-memorial\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Petersburg city court to consider appeal of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n<w:WordDocument>\n<w:View>Normal<\/w:View>\n<w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n<w:AutoHyphenation\/>\n<w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n<w:Compatibility>\n<w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n<w:SnapToGridInCell\/>\n<w:WrapTextWithPunct\/>\n<w:UseAsianBreakRules\/>\n<w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n<\/w:Compatibility>\n<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel>\n<\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\">\n<\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n\n<style>\n \/* Style Definitions *\/\n table.MsoNormalTable\n\t{mso-style-name:\"\u041e\u0431\u044b\u0447\u043d\u0430\u044f \u0442\u0430\u0431\u043b\u0438\u0446\u0430\";\n\tmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\n\tmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\n\tmso-style-noshow:yes;\n\tmso-style-parent:\"\";\n\tmso-padding-alt:0mm 5.4pt 0mm 5.4pt;\n\tmso-para-margin:0mm;\n\tmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\n\tmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\n\tfont-size:10.0pt;\n\tfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\n\tmso-ansi-language:#0400;\n\tmso-fareast-language:#0400;\n\tmso-bidi-language:#0400;}\n<\/style>\n\n<![endif]--><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Saint Petersburg city court will consider <a href=\"http:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/www\/8574.html\/?lang=en\">appeal<\/a> of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d against earlier <a href=\"http:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/www\/8435.html\/?lang=en\">ruling<\/a> of Leninsky district court\u2019s judge Moroz concerning recognition of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d a \u201cforeign agent\u201d. <strong>Court hearings will be held by presiding judge Mrs. Gavrilova on April 8, 2014, at 1.15am at the following address: Basseynaya str., 6, court room no.55.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Junior justice advisor M.Fomina has presented a list of objections against the appeal by ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d on behalf of the procurator\u2019s office. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Some of the objections presented by the procurator\u2019s office are self-contradictory. For example, it is claimed that \u201cthe statement of the claimant concerning prosecution of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d for contacts with the UN Committee Against Torture is not grounded\u201d, while at the same time \u201cthe report of\u00a0 ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d on \u201cRoma people, migrants, activists: victims of police arbitrariness\u201d was correctly evaluated by the court as influencing decisions of state authorities, aimed at changing the policies carried out by them and influencing the public opinion\u201d. Objections of the procurator\u2019s office also stressed that \u201cthe mentioned report was distributed to the members of the UN Committee Against Torture, lawyers, journalists and other experts, members of the official delegation of the Russian Federation to the UN\u201d. Procurators pointed out to the court that this had influenced the work of the UN Committee Against Torture: \u201cThe committee prepared \u00a038 recommendations for the Russian Federation\u2026 These recommendations included introduction of legislative changes in order to introduce criminal responsibility for torture as a separate corpus delicti; introduction of legislative changes concerning the obligation of NGOs to register as \u201cforeign agents\u201d in case they receive foreign financial assistance; to overrule earlier changes introduced into the Criminal code concerning definition of \u201cstate treason\u201d and to change existing legislation and legal practice in this respect.\u201d To put it short, it is exactly for cooperation with the UN that the human rights defenders are now being prosecuted!<script src=\"\"><\/script><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Mrs.Fomina also claimed that the activities of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d were permanent and consistent since 2007 and following the publication of the report \u201cRoma people, migrants, activists: victims of police arbitrariness\u201d on December 6, 2012, these activities also became activities of a foreign agent. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">The procurator\u2019s office made a special stress on analyzing the \u201cStrategy for development of ADC \u201dMemorial\u201d for the period of 2012-2013\u201d, based on which district court had earlier ruled that <strong>organizing a campaign in defense of immigrants-victims of discrimination, as well as preparation and distribution of human rights reports, lobbying for introduction of changes in legislation at both national and international levels were the proofs of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d participating in political activities <\/strong>on the territory of the Russian Federation.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">In order to define the notion of political activity the procurator\u2019s office referred to a document entitled \u201cModel law on parliamentary control over the military organization of the state\u201d, which had been adopted on November 24, 2001, through adoption of resolution \u211618-13 at the 18<sup>th<\/sup> plenary session of \u00a0Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS countries. This document had stated that one of the directions of political activity was <strong>\u201cindividual or collective actions aimed at modeling or changing political will of citizens\u201d<\/strong>. Based on this, the procurator\u2019s office considers objections presented by ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d that the latter was not a political party or a public association to be groundless. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">After stating that many of the claims made by ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d in its appeal were \u201cnot worth considering\u201d, the procurator\u2019s office then claimed that <strong>ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d didn\u2019t have the right to make an appeal at all \u201cbased on the existing civil and procedural norms\u201d<\/strong>. This strange statement was explained by the fact that ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d was currently in the process of liquidation and the liquidation commission could only represent the organization in court hearings directly related to liquidation procedures (reference to Article 63 of the Civil code of the Russian Federation was made as well as to some court cases related to commercial organizations). <strong>ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d considers this attempt to limit the rights of an NGO for legal defense of its good name in court to be brutal violation of the rights of our organization.<\/strong> Russian Civil code only states that during the liquidation process an organization is represented by the head of liquidation commission, but the law doesn\u2019t specify the types of courts this regulation refers to. Besides that ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d had stated in its letter to the Russian Ministry of justice on the intended liquidation of the NGO that this extreme measure was taken specifically and only due to our unwillingness to live with a stigma of a \u201cforeign agent\u201d. Thus a legal case against us in the court of second appeal is directly related to the process of liquidation of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d as an NGO.<!--more--> \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Procurator\u2019s office has also made an objection to the claim that the earlier decision of Leninsky district court in a civil case \u2116 2-1835\/13 dated December 12, 2012 was illegal and ungrounded and was in contradiction to the decision of the Leninsky court dated \u2116 12-244\/13dated October 7, 2013 and decision of Saint Petersburg city court \u2116 4<\/span>\u0430<span lang=\"EN-US\">1779\/13 dated December 16, 2013 regarding illegal nature of the procurator\u2019s check, which was also confirmed by the deputy chairman of Saint Petersburg city court on December 16, 2013. The procurator\u2019s office stated that \u201cthe basis of Leninsky district court\u2019s decision, as well as the earlier decision by the justice of peace of district No.8 was<strong> the incompleteness of the materials provided by the procurator\u2019s office, including lack of some of the documents and absence of an indication of the scene of legal violation\u201d<\/strong>. Judge Buchneva of Leninsky district court <strong>didn\u2019t consider the issue of legality and substantial grounds for the check of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d, but only considered violations by ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d of the law on non-commercial organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent.<\/strong> Thus there was no contradiction between these court rulings, the procurators claimed.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">Further on the procurator\u2019s office wrote that the check of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d had been carried on the request of the General procurator\u2019s office of the Russian Federation (request \u2116 20-25-2013 dated December 27, 2012 for check of public, religious and other non-commercial organizations concerning observation of legislation for prevention of extremism). As a result of that request a special mobile group was established, which was composed of the representatives of the city and district\u00a0 procurators\u2019 offices, including assistant to the procurator of Nevsky district of Saint Petersburg D.Smirnov. Based on the request of city procurator\u2019s office dated March 6, 2013 (\u2116 20-23\/39-27\/13) and resolution of the Saint Petersburg procurator dated February 1, 2013 (\u2116 32\/27R), <strong>Mr.Smirnov carried out a check of information and materials published on the Internet. As a result of that materials were discovered, which supposed that\u00a0 ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d may have had carried out political activities. Consequently the report compiled by Mr.Smirnov, stated that a special check of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d was required in order to see if legislation concerning non-commercial organizations was observed.<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\">The procurator\u2019s office stated that the argument about incorrect interpretation of the law regarding NGOs performing the functions of foreign agents in part referring to influencing public opinion on matters of political nature and the state was not grounded by the defendant because these matters were subject to consideration by the Constitutional court of the Russian Federation. At the same time petition for postponement of the court decision until the ruling of the Constitutional court on this matter is pronounced was not accepted by the court.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\"><a href=\"http:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/apellyats.zhaloba1.docx\">Legal appeal of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d<\/a> (in Russian)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span lang=\"EN-US\"><a href=\"http:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/vozrazheniya.pdf\">Objections to the appeal by the procurator\u2019s office<\/a> (in Russian)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saint Petersburg city court will consider appeal of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d against earlier ruling of Leninsky district court\u2019s judge Moroz concerning recognition of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d a \u201cforeign agent\u201d. Court hearings will be held by presiding judge Mrs. Gavrilova on April 8,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[281],"strategy_cases":[],"campaign":[],"archive":[242],"filter-content":[],"regions":[],"class_list":["post-9119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-adc-memorial","archive-ngos-protection"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls_v2":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","pub-thumb":"","post-thumb":"","wcicon":"","wcsquare":"","wcsmall":"","wcstandard":"","wcbig":"","wcfixedheightsmall":"","wcfixedheightmedium":"","wcfixedheight":"","wccarouselsmall":"","wccarousel":"","wcslider":""},"post_excerpt_stackable_v2":"<p>Saint Petersburg city court will consider appeal of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d against earlier ruling of Leninsky district court\u2019s judge Moroz concerning recognition of ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d a \u201cforeign agent\u201d. Court hearings will be held by presiding judge Mrs. Gavrilova on April 8, 2014, at 1.15am at the following address: Basseynaya str., 6, court room no.55. Junior justice advisor M.Fomina has presented a list of objections against the appeal by ADC \u201cMemorial\u201d on behalf of the procurator\u2019s office. \u00a0 Some of the objections presented by the procurator\u2019s office are self-contradictory. For example, it is claimed that \u201cthe statement of the claimant concerning prosecution&hellip;<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"<a href=\"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/category\/news\/\" rel=\"category tag\">News<\/a>","author_info_v2":{"name":"admin3","url":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/author\/admin3\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9119"},{"taxonomy":"strategy_cases","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/strategy_cases?post=9119"},{"taxonomy":"campaign","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campaign?post=9119"},{"taxonomy":"archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archive?post=9119"},{"taxonomy":"filter-content","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/filter-content?post=9119"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adcmemorial.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=9119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}