Russia closes respected rights group Sakharov Centre: Court

Russia on Friday closed the Sakharov Centre, a prominent rights group, as the Kremlin clamps down on liberal-leaning organizations that challenge official narratives, including over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine.

Moscow City Court said in a statement it decided to dissolve the organization, which launched nearly three decades ago, for illegally hosting conferences and exhibitions, Reuters reports.

The group, dedicated to Nobel Prize-winning rights activist Andrei Sakharov, had hosted hundreds of debates, exhibitions, and other events since its creation in 1996.

In 2015, thousands of people gathered there to pay their last respects to opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated near the Kremlin walls.

It was vacated from its historic premises in April.

Kremlin critics say authorities are widening a historic crackdown on dissent, with most opposition figures behind bars or in exile and top rights groups shut down.

In January, a court also ordered the closure of Russia’s oldest human rights organization, the Moscow Helsinki Group.

And Memorial, which established itself as a key pillar in civil society, was disbanded by Russian authorities in late 2021, just months before Putin sent troops to Ukraine.