Russia’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Memorial, the country’s most prominent human rights organizations, must shut down. 

Prosecutors had accused Memorial of failing to properly mark its publications under its designation as a foreign agent.They also said the group denigrated the former Soviet Union and rehabilitated “Nazi criminals.” 

Memorial rejected the accusations as being politically motivated, and its leaders have pledged to continue their work. 

The group rose to prominence through work to document crimes during the time of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, and more recently spoke out against efforts to repress critics of Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 

Some information for this report came from the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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