OSLO, April 8 (Reuters) – The Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Wednesday it was condemning “Russia’s attempt to criminalise Memorial” and to designate the human rights group, a co-recipient of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, as an extremist organisation.
“The committee has learned that Russia’s Ministry of Justice has filed a claim to the Supreme Court requesting such a designation… If the claim is upheld, all activities of Memorial will be criminalised,” the Nobel body said in a statement.
The Russian embassy in Oslo did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by Reuters via email.
Memorial shared the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, in an award widely regarded as a condemnation of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Louise Rasmussen in Copenhagen, editing by Gwladys Fouche)
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