Press Release, 30.08.2018

The St.Petersburg Committee of Property suspended termination of the contract of rent of the St.Petersburg branch of the Memorial human rights society.

In April 2018, the City Commission for Disposal of Property refused to Memorial in concluding their regular rent contract for a new period without explaining the reasons. In July 2018, the St. Petersburg authorities announced termination of the contract and offered Memorial to vacate the premises of its office within three months.

Boris Vishnevsky and Mikhail Amosov, deputies of the Yabloko faction of the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly, forwarded an address to Georgy Poltavchenko, Governor of St.Petersburg, on the inadmissibility of termination of the rent contract with the St.Petersburg branch of Memorial. In addition, Alexander Shishlov, St.Petersburg’s Ombudsman, also interfered into the situation.

On 24 August, Yabloko Chair Emilia Slabunova also applied to Mikhail Fedotov, head of the Russian Human Rights Council under the President of the RF and Presidential Assistant, urging him to adopt measures so that to let Memorial function normally.

Georgy Poltavchenko, Governor of St.Petersburg, in his answer to the inquiry of Boris Vishnevsky, head of the Yabloko faction in the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly, replied that the Committee was making “additional work” on the case and the information on the results of this work would be forwarded to Vishnevsky.

“I hope that Memorial will be able to continue work in its office,” Boris Vishnevsky notes.

The Memorial charitable historical and educational human rights organisation has been renting the office in Razezhey Street, 9, in St. Petersburg, from the Government of St.Petersburg since 1997. Memorial has never violated the terms of the rent contract, and there have never been any complaints from the city authorities. Moreover, Memorial was constantly (also in 2018) included by the Government of St. Petersburg into the “List of public associations of veterans of war and labour, prisoners of fascist concentration camps, disabled people and victims of political reprisals of St. Petersburg, subject to exemption from rent payments for the use of objects of non-residential facilities that are owned by St. Petersburg”. That is, it was recognised as an organisation entitled to state support.