[22/01/09] Commissioner Hammarberg welcomes the judgment passed by the Dzherzhinsky district court of St Petersburg on 20 January 2009 in the case of the Scientific Information Center "Memorial".
The Office of Memorial information center was searched by personnel from the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in St Petersburg on 4 December 2008. The search, which was carried out without the presence of a lawyer, resulted in the seizure of 11 hard discs of computers, containing unique historical research on political repression during the Soviet era.
The St Petersburg court declared that the search of "Memorial" premises on 4 December 2008 was illegal and ordered that all seized material be returned to the organisation.
"I welcome the court's ruling as it strives to uphold human rights safeguards against unlawful and insufficiently substantiated searches as well as unjustified broad and sweeping seizures of private property, in relation to criminal investigations" says Thomas Hammarberg.
"I also interpret the court's ruling as freeing this well respected and highly professional human rights NGO from any suspicion of wrong doing or criminal activity" he concluded.
* On 16 March 2022, the Committee of Ministers adopted a decision by which the Russian Federation ceased to be a member of the Council of Europe, after 26 years of membership.
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* On 16 March 2022, the Committee of Ministers adopted a decision by which the Russian Federation ceased to be a member of the Council of Europe, after 26 years of membership.
** All reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.